BofA Class Action Says CashPay Debit Card Fees Exploit Ex-Inmates

Bank of America NA is facing a class action lawsuit filed by three plaintiffs who accuse the bank of participating in an illegal scheme to exploit individuals who have been released from Arizona correctional facilities.

Plaintiffs Daria Brill, Andrea Morales and Gale Zylstra filed the Bank of America class action lawsuit last week in Arizona federal court.

They claim that people who have been released from prison who want access to the money remaining in their inmate accounts are forced into a relationship with Bank of America, which issues them a debit card.

This debit card is called the BofA CashPay Debit Card, and the bank charges individuals “exorbitant and unusual fees” after they have been released from an Arizona prison.

“The fee structure for the BofA CashPay Debit Card, and other features devised by BofA, by turn dissuades and disincentivizes Arizona releasees from accessing their own money, and penalizes them with excessive or unusual fees when they do,” the Bank of America class action lawsuit states.

The non-reloadable BofA CashPay Debit Card is the only option for inmates who are released from an Arizona correctional facility and who wish to access the funds remaining in their inmate accounts, according to the BofA class action lawsuit.

The money in inmate accounts includes funds that an inmate may have possessed at the time of incarceration, as well as funds they earned through work programs or funds sent by friends or family.

The plaintiffs assert that inmates are provided with a one-page form instructing them about how to activate the BofA CashPay Debit Card, but that this form does not describe fees, terms or conditions associated with using the card.

“Arizona releasees are never given an opportunity to review or agree to any terms and conditions governing the debit card’s use prior to receiving it,” the BofA class action lawsuit states. “There is no period allowing for the withdrawal of funds so that releasees can enter into alternative banking or commercial arrangements that might be more favorable to releasees.”

According to the BofA CashPay Debit Card class action lawsuit, individuals are faced with a $15 fee per transaction to use the card at a bank teller window, a $2.50 fee to speak on the telephone with a customer service agent, and a $1.50 charge for each withdrawal at an ATM (even at a BofA ATM).

These are fees that no ordinary consumer would ever be charged in order to access their money from a Bank of America account, the plaintiffs assert.

The plaintiffs accuse Bank of America of exploiting the vulnerable population of individuals who have been released from Arizona prisons.

The BofA class action lawsuit says that this population is “at the greatest risk and in the greatest need of support upon their release, as they re-acclimate themselves to living in society.”

BofA’s practice of imposing fees for simple and routine transactions at a time when Arizona releasees need their money the most, deprives them of access to their money, to which they are rightfully entitled, the Bank of America class action lawsuit states.

By filing the BofA class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs seek to represent themselves as well as a Class of other individuals who were released from an Arizona corrections facility and who were issued a BofA CashPay Debit Card.

The plaintiffs are represented by Jo Ann Niemi of Anapol Weiss; Ruben Honik and David J. Stanoch of Golomb & Honik PC.

The Bank of America CashPay Debit Card Class Action Lawsuit is Daria Brill, et al. v. Bank of America NA, et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-03817, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.