Walmart accused of illegally forcing over 1 million of its drivers it open bank accounts

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Walmart accused of illegally forcing over 1 million of its drivers it open bank accounts

The

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

is suing

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and a finance company, arguing they forced

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

to fork over junk fees for “costly” deposit accounts and used their personal information without their consent.

The federal agency filed its

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

against the retail company and Branch Messenger, a financial technology company, on December 23. The lawsuit argues

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

forced “workers into getting paid through accounts that drain their earnings with junk fees” through Branch for two years, beginning in 2021.

The agency says the two companies “harvested more than $10 million in junk fees” through Walmart’s Spark Driver program — which allows people to sign up and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Walmart orders

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

The agency argues Walmart told drivers they must use Branch Accounts — which it labeled a “costly and risky product” — or lose their jobs.

Walmart and Branch also opened deposit accounts using drivers’ personal information without their consent, the federal agency argued (Getty Images)

“Walmart made false promises, illegally opened accounts, and took advantage of more than a million delivery drivers,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement.

The agency further argued that Walmart and Branch “opened accounts for new drivers by using drivers’ information, including their Social Security numbers, without obtaining the drivers’ consent.”

The two companies also deceived workers about when they would get their funds, the lawsuit argues, promising instant access to pay even though many employees experienced delays or paid fees to transfer their funds to other accounts.

A Walmart spokesperson said the lawsuit contained several inaccuracies and accused the agency of never allowing Walmart a “fair opportunity to present its case.”

“The CFPB’s rushed lawsuit is riddled with factual errors and contains exaggerations and blatant misstatements of settled principles of law,” the spokesperson told The Independent in a statement.

“We look forward to vigorously defending the Company before a court that, unlike the CFPB, honors the due process of law,” the spokesperson added.

The Independent has contacted Branch for comment.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Walmart #accused #illegally #forcing #million #drivers #open #bank #accounts

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up