MINNEAPOLIS – U.S. Bancorp said this morning it has agreed to pay $55 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing it of unfair business practices in ordering payments on its debit transactions, similar to claims made against nine big credit unions over the past few weeks.
The settlement by the parent of U.S. Bank was announced this morning, six days after a $90 million settlement with PNC Financial was announced.
The suits are among 35 filed against big banks by the same law firms pursing big lenders, now credit unions.
Among the credit unions hit with suits in recent weeks are SchoolsFirst FCU, Star One CU, Kern Schools FCU, Education Employees FCU, Alliant CU, America’s First FCU, Alabama Telco CU Legacy Community FCU and Xceed Financial FCU.
The suits accused the banks and credit unions of ordering transactions from largest to smallest, rather than processing them in chronological order, creating overdrafts sooner and more often because account balances fell faster.
Fourteen lenders have settled, according to lawyers for the customers. Bank of America's $410 million accord is the largest, followed by a $137.5 million settlement with Royal Bank of Scotland's Citizens Financial unit and a $110 million settlement with JP Morgan Chase.
Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Capital One are among the larger banks that have not settled.
