CFPB Drops Lawsuit Against Capital One Over Savings Rates

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau dropped a Biden-era lawsuit against Capital One Financial Corp., the latest in a slew of enforcement actions pulled under the Trump administration.

The consumer watchdog dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be reopened, according to a filing Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The CFPB had alleged last month that the lender misled customers when it rolled out a new savings account with a higher interest rate it didn’t also give to existing savings accounts.

A Capital One spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Capital One introduced the 360 Performance Savings Account in 2019, with an interest rate that eventually rose to 4.25%, according to the CFPB’s complaint at the time. That was far higher than the 0.3% offered on the bank’s existing savings account product, called 360 Savings.

The CFPB alleged that the bank promised existing customers one of the U.S.’s “top,” “best” and “highest” interest rates through their 360 Savings account.

The CFPB has been swiftly defanged under Trump. Officials from his administration began disabling the agency earlier this month, suspending its work overseeing financial companies and closing its Washington headquarters. The administration fired the agency’s director and many other employees.

Trump’s nominee to be next CFPB director, Jonathan McKernan, faced the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. He told lawmakers that it was time to “right size” the agency.