New York continues the capital giant Capital One on what the State calls bait and switching messages that ultimately cost the Millions of Dollars to New Yorkers.
The Attorney General Letitia James alleys that the bank misleads customers by promising that those who opened its 360 savings accounts will put their money in a high performance savings account. But in the trial filed on Wednesday, James said that it was not the case – that Capital One maintained the interest rates of these artificially low accounts, but in 2019, began to offer a 360 performance savings account which, at one point, offered rates 14 times higher than the original 360 savings version.
“Capital One has created confusion so that customers of 360 savings do not realize that their accounts were obsolete and cannot have to open new 360 performance savings accounts to receive the prices announced on the One -Future Capital Website in the future,” said the trial.
The allegations reflect those who, in a trial, the Federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau posted in the last days of the Biden administration in January, but which the agency abandoned after President Donald Trump took office. James said that in an announcement on Wednesday, New York brought an action by “ensuring that the capital does not flee responsibility” and to request a return “for all the customers affected by Capital One”.
“New York’s families work hard to save money for their future, and they deserve all the interests promised to them,” James said in a statement “Capital One has provided high yields without captures, then withdrawn the carpet in their clients and hoped that no one would notice it.
A capital spokesperson One told Gothamist in a statement that he disputes the AG’s assertions and that she was proud of his full suite of 360 banking products.
According to the trial, the bank said that its savings account 360 had “one of the best savings rates in the country” and that “your money will earn much more than it is in an average savings account”. He quotes Capital One Materials saying to consumers “What is the taking?” There is none. “
But, according to James’ office, there has been a catch: that even if the performance accounts followed the national trends that have seen the interest rates increase, the 360 -original savings accounts have remained with low rates.
He said the two accounts were low because the FED reduced interest rates to the national level to almost 0% almost at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 – with 360 saving at 0.3% and 0.4% performance accounts. But national interest rates finally rebounded. The trial describes the performance accounts going to 3.30% in January 2023 and a summit of 4.35% in January 2024 – but the 360 original savings accounts remain 0.3%.
The trial alleys that the bank has kept customers in ignorance of changes, citing “discussion points” saying that because Fed prices increased, “we have adjusted our deposit account rates, like many other banks and financial institutions”. He indicates that Capital One has completely deleted all the messages on the 360s website on the website.
According to James’ office, allegedly misleading tactics mean that capital customers with Capital One for years can be large sums of money.
“A customer who put $ 10,000 in a savings account of 360 in September 2019 would have won $ 186 of interest after five years,” explains the trial “if the same customer had increased to a savings account of 360 performance, they would have won $ 1,090 of interest over the same period.”
James’ office said New Yorkers have collectively lost millions of dollars “while Capital One pocketed the difference.”
This story has been updated with more information.
