A new class action lawsuit has just been settled in the United States, the land where consumers’ rights are defended by a robust justice system that operates at the federal and state levels.
The most recent class action settlement is in litigation against Bank of America, which agreed to pay $21 million to plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit seeking fees that allegedly violated agreements between the bank and the owners of checking and savings accounts.
What the Plaintiffs Alleged
The customers alleged that Bank of America charged certain transfer fees on incoming payments to their bank accounts between March 8, 2019 and August 31, 2023. This behavior would have violated the account agreement because hidden fees of up to $15 were charged on incoming transfers.
The lawsuit alleged that the banking company deliberately concealed these charges in order to benefit financially, and that the affected plaintiffs did not know, and their consent was not obtained.
Bank of America Settlement Payouts Explained
The Bank of America, a major bank and lender that operates at the federal level throughout the United States, did not accept that it had done anything illegal or acted irregularly, but agreed to pay $21 million to settle the class action and avoid a long and expensive litigation that could last even years.
According to the settlement with Bank of America, the class members will receive a share of the fund in proportion to the commissions they paid for wire transfers. If you have a checking account with Bank of America, you will receive your share directly as a credit to your account. If you don’t have an active account, a check will be mailed to you.
The amount that each person will receive may vary. For now, there are no specific estimates available.
Important Dates of the Bank of America Class Action Settlement
- Deadline for exclusion and objection: September 21, 2024.
- Final approval hearing: October 21, 2024.
Best of all, you don’t need to fill out any claim forms to benefit from the settlement. If you do not opt out, you will automatically receive your share of the payment.
Who is eligible to receive payments from Bank of America?
Bank of America checking or savings account owners who were charged certain wire transfer payments on incoming payments between March 8, 2019 and August 31, 2023 may participate in this class action.
“If you were assessed and were not refunded Incoming Wire Transfer Fees challenged in this Action, then you will receive a Settlement Class Member Payment from the Settlement Fund so long as you do not opt-out of the Settlement (described in the next box),” the official class action lawsuit’s website claims.
“You can choose to opt-out of the Settlement which means you are excluding yourself from the Settlement. This means you choose not to participate in the Settlement. You will keep your individual claims against Bank of America, N.A. (“BANA”), but you will not receive a Settlement Class Member Payment. The Opt-Out Deadline for the Settlement is September 21, 2024. If you opt-out but still want to recover against BANA, then you will have to file a separate lawsuit or claim,” says also the website.
The objection deadline is also September 21, 2024, the instance where you can express that you don’t agree with the settlement, and you consider that there might be another settlement or that the case should go to trial.