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CFPB Warns Banks Against Use of Phantom Opt-In Agreements

  • The CFPB issued guidance, titled Improper Overdraft Opt-In Practices, addressing whether a financial institution violates the law if it levies overdraft fees for ATM and one-time debit card transactions based on phantom opt-ins—through which banks claim they have customers’ consent to charge such fees without proof consent was given.
  • In the guidance, the CFPB explains that a bank or credit union can be in violation of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) and its Regulation E if there is no proof that it obtained affirmative consent to enrollment in covered overdraft services.
  • The CFPB also provides examples of records that banks could maintain that would demonstrate consumer consent to enrollment.