$66.7M Bank Fees Class Action Settlement Reached with Chase, Wells Fargo & BoA

A $66.7 million settlement has been hashed out on behalf of millions of consumers and the banks accused of conspiring with credit card companies to inflate their ATM fees.

The proposed settlement was submitted to the federal judge overseeing the matter in U.S. District Court for the District of Washington, D.C. on Oct. 5. It calls for a $26.42 million payout from Bank of America, a $20.82 million payout from Wells Fargo and $19.5 million from Chase.

“While the allegations in the consolidated suits vary, the plaintiffs generally claim consumers would pay lower rates when taking out money … at ATMs run either by independent operators or by banks at which they do not have accounts if not for an alleged plot to fix the price of access fees,” the legal news service Law360 reported.

Bank Fees Class Action Settlement Overview

The proposed bank fees class action settlement seeks to put an end to three cases that were consolidated in 2011. The lead plaintiffs involved argued that Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Chase were “orchestrating, implementing, and facilitating a conspiracy to fix the fees ATMs charge to customers,” the class action complaint said. The alleged price fixing was accomplished through bank contracts supported by major credit card companies, including Visa and MasterCard, which prevented independent ATM machine operators from lowering their prices to beat their competition.

“[The] unlawful agreements effectively set a price floor for all ATM access fees throughout the country, and deprive consumers of the benefits of natural price competition,” the class action complaint said.

Originally, the class action lawsuit also named Visa and MasterCard as defendants. That portion of the case is not part of the proposed settlement, according to the documents filed this month.

The Law on ATM Fees

It is legal for banks, credit unions and other financial institutions to charge ATM fees as long they are properly disclosed to customers.

The Electronic Fund Transfer Act requires financial institutions to inform consumers of all fees they will be charged, and when, in writing prior to actually charging them – thus giving the customer the choice of whether to proceed. ATM usage fees must also be disclosed to customers on the screen of the machine they are using before they can be charged, again, giving the customer the option of declining to proceed, as explained by Debt.org, an online financial information resource.

In addition to charges leveled by a customer’s own bank, the owner of the ATM – be it another bank, or an independent machine operator – can also charge a fee for the use of the service.

ATM Fee Pricing and Trends

The USA Today reported in October 2019 that ATM fees are on the rise nationwide, despite the fact that an increasing number of transactions are completed using smartphone applications, online payment service and credit cards.

At this time last year, the average ATM fee charged by machine operators for a cash withdrawal was $3.09 — 2% higher than in 2018. The modest increase marked the 15th straight year of increases, according to a July survey by Bankrate,” The USA Today report said. Meanwhile, fees charged by banks to use out-of-network machines, fell by 2% from 2018, to $1.63.

Overall, the average cost of an ATM cash withdrawal was $4.72 in 2019, a record high, The USA Today said. That’s 33% higher than it was 10 years earlier, the report said.

Bank Fees Class Action Settlement Details

The $66.7 million proposed bank fees class action settlement “demonstrates the strength of plaintiffs’ case,” and is an “excellent result for the class,” lawyers for the plaintiffs told the court.

Now it’s up to the judge to review the agreement and decide whether to grant approval to it.

The plaintiff’s lawyers also asked the court to name two of the lead plaintiffs, Andrew Mackmin and Sam Osborn, as class representatives and to designate A.B. Data Ltd. as settlement administrator.

It is unclear exactly how many customers will ultimately participate in the settlement, but according to the documents filed this month there could be as many as 175 to 215 million, lawyers for the plaintiffs said.

The likely next step will be for the court to schedule a hearing on the proposed bank fees class action settlement.

The Bank Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Andrew Mackmin, et al. v. Visa Inc., et al., Case No. 1:11-cv-1831-RJL in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.