ATM Fee Class Action Settlement With Capital One Seeks Final Approval

Capital One and two plaintiffs have filed a motion for final approval of a $13 million ATM fee class action settlement.

The settlement proposes to provide cash payments and account credits to consumers who were charged out of network balance inquiry ATM fees in certain states. Depending on whether the proposed Class Members are still customers with the bank, they could receive either cash payments or account credits of around $5.09 per person.

Now that the exclusion and objection deadlines have passed, Capital One and the two plaintiffs in the ATM fees class action lawsuit have asked the court to give the settlement deal their final stamp of approval. If the settlement is approved, Class Members will start to receive payments.

Did Capital One Charge Unfair ATM Fees?

Plaintiffs Jacob Figueroa and Mary Jackson filed their amended Capital One ATM fee class action lawsuit in 2018, challenging Capital One NA’s practices of charging ATM fees. According to the plaintiffs, the bank charged deceptive fees on both in network and out of network ATMs in violation of their account agreements.

Figueroa and Jackson say that Capital One routinely charges multiple fees on out of network ATM transactions. For each out of network ATM transaction, consumers are reportedly charged two fees – one each by both Capital One and the out of network ATM operator.

“Capital One does not stop there, however. On some out-of-network ATM withdrawals, Capital One accountholders pay a third fee for withdrawing funds at an out of-network ATM—one fee to the ATM operator and two OON Fees to Capital One,” the Capital One ATM fee class action lawsuit contends.

“Specifically, when Capital One accountholders accept the ATM prompt and check their account balance prior to withdrawing funds at an out-of-network ATM, Capital One charges its accountholder two OON Fees—one for the balance inquiry and one for the withdrawal.”

The plaintiffs say that this practice ended up charging them $7 for three separate fees – $4 of which went to Capital One in the form of two ATM fees. With most ATM withdrawals being below $100, the plaintiffs contend that these fees amount to more than a year of interest.

Capital One has not admitted any wrongdoing but has agreed to resolve the case against them in a $13 million settlement deal.

Capital One ATM Fee Class Action Settlement Details

The proposed settlement deal would benefit current and former Capital One consumers who were charged out of network balance inquiry fees between April 6, 2008 and June 30, 2020. The settlement Class includes Capital One customers whos accounts were established in the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Virginia.

According to the motion for final approval, these consumers would receive cash payments or account credits of $5.09. The motion calls this relief “significant” considering the fact that the fees charged by Capital One were between $2 and $2.50.

No claim form was required in order to Class Members to opt into the settlement. However, Capital One consumers included in the settlement Class had until Oct. 26, 2020 to exclude themselves from the deal. By excluding themselves, Class Members could retain their legal rights to take similar action against Capital One – though they would give up any benefits provided by the proposed settlement.

The final approval hearing for the ATM fee class action settlement is scheduled for Jan. 11, 2021. At this hearing, the court will decide whether or not the proposed settlement deal is fair by reviewing Class Members objections, participation rates, and the terms of the deal.

The Capital One ATM Fee Class Action Settlement is Jacob Figueroa, et al. v. Capital One NA, Case No. 3:18-cv-00692, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.