Sen. Elizabeth Warren calls Wells Fargo CEO ‘evasive,’ presses financial institution for fraud complaints on Zelle fee platform

Sen. Elizabeth Warren known as Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf “evasive,” saying the financial institution’s solutions to her questions on fraud throughout the Zelle fee platform have been deceptive, “insulting and ineffective.”

The Massachusetts Democrat, who sits on the Senate Banking, Housing and City Affairs Committee, stated the speed of Wells Fargo prospects who reported fraud or scams on Zelle was greater than twice as excessive as different huge banks and a couple of.5 occasions larger in 2022 than in 2019 amongst Wells Fargo prospects. She stated the financial institution “tried to mislead me” by offering restricted information from 2018 and 2021.

“Your responses to the rest of my questions have been insulting and ineffective to your prospects, who’ve been the victims of fraud and scams on Zelle and are unaware of the upper dangers they face on the platform as prospects of your financial institution,” she wrote in a letter despatched Monday to Scharf.

Warren pressed the financial institution and Early Warning Companies, the guardian firm of cash switch platform Zelle, to launch extra information on fraud and rip-off complaints reported by banking prospects. Requests for remark from Wells Fargo and Early Warning Companies weren’t instantly returned.

She stated prior requests for particular information compiled for an October evaluation of fraud and rip-off complaints by shoppers went unheeded.

“I’m disenchanted by your evasive and deceptive reply to my October 6, 2022 letter asking in regards to the terribly excessive and quickly rising cases of fraud and scams affecting Wells Fargo prospects on the Zelle cash switch platform,” Warren wrote. “Your prospects – who’ve lately endured dozens of examples of lawbreaking and mistreatment by your financial institution – deserve higher.”

Warren’s report stated a number of huge banks, together with Wells Fargo, might have violated federal legislation by failing to refund a overwhelming majority of consumers defrauded on Zelle. She discovered that the seven banks that personal Zelle and its guardian firm — Financial institution of America, Truist, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Financial institution, U.S. Financial institution and Wells Fargo — didn’t repay prospects more often than not in 190,000 instances in 2021 and the primary half of 2022 the place shoppers stated they have been scammed on Zelle.

The quantity of the fraudulent funds reached $213 million, in keeping with the report.

Wells Fargo was amongst a number of banks that refused to launch key fraud info, Warren stated, although the frequency of Zelle fraud and rip-off studies by the financial institution’s prospects was “greater than twice as excessive because it was for comparable banks for which we had information,” in keeping with the letter.

Jim Seitz, a spokesman for Wells Fargo, informed CNBC in October that Warren’s evaluation is “deceptive and inaccurate.”

“We welcome the chance to have a constructive dialogue about wholistic Zelle information and trade tendencies — not simply that of three banks,” Seitz stated.

Early Warning Companies additionally defended Wells Fargo in its response to the outcomes of Warren’s Oct. three report, saying that “latest statements relating to Wells Fargo’s fraud and rip-off charges are inaccurate. Wells Fargo’s charges of reported fraud and scams are terribly low and akin to the Zelle Community as a complete, the place charges of reported fraud and scams characterize lower than 0.1% of all transactions,” in keeping with the letter.

The corporate additionally informed CNBC in October that “any exterior evaluation finished is incomplete and doesn’t mirror the efforts and information reported by greater than 1,700 monetary establishments on the Zelle Community.”

The senator known as Early Warning Companies’ response “inaccurate” and stated it’s “not per the info supplied to me by Wells Fargo and different banks which can be a part of the Zelle community,” in keeping with the letter.

Warren additionally stated the reply she acquired from Wells Fargo was “wholly insufficient given the scope of the issues.”

“For instance, you said that information we revealed on Zelle-related issues at Wells Fargo and different banks contained ‘apples-to-oranges comparisons,’ as a result of Wells Fargo’s ‘response to your information request included gross claims [and] … [o]ther responses might have used completely different dimensions,'” Warren wrote. “However this assertion, which is an try to reduce the affect of the issue at Wells Fargo, is fake.”

Warren requested the financial institution for up-to-date info on the extent of fraud scams reported by prospects, reimbursement charges and the greenback worth of reimbursements to scammed prospects, she says, for the fifth time. The up to date information will cowl 2017 to 2021 and this January via September.

The senator requested Early Warning Companies for related info, along with the variety of instances the place Zelle referred scams to legislation enforcement or to federal or state financial institution regulators, spanning every of the final 5 full calendar years, and from Jan. 1 to the current. Warren gave every firm a deadline of Nov. 21.

“If Wells Fargo and EWS actually wish to set the report straight about fraud and scams on Zelle, then they need to change course and supply the American folks with full information,” Warren stated in an announcement. “Prospects who have been defrauded and scammed on Zelle deserve full transparency.”

In October, Warren appealed to the Shopper Monetary Safety Bureau to make use of its rule-making authorities below the Dodd-Frank Act to extend shopper protections on peer-to-peer cash switch platforms.