The hits keep on coming for the largest bank in America: in addition to stealing millions with fraudulent overdraft fees, creating 2,000,000 fraudulent accounts, blackballing whistleblowers, defrauding mortgage borrowers, and stealing tens of thousands of cars with fraudulent repos, they also grossly overcharged America’s struggling small businesses for processing their credit-card fees, according to a new lawsuit.
A class action filed in New York by a Pennsylvania court says that Wells Fargo gave merchants an agreement based on “voluminous legalese that could not possibly be read in its entirety or understood by merchant customers,” with “absurd provisions” that allowed the bank to charge any fees it chose to levy.
For example, the suit claims that the Program Guide included language that dictated Wells Fargo could “increase our fees and add new fees for services for any other reason at any time, by notifying you thirty days prior to the effective date of any such change or addition.”“Boiled down to its core, this provision purports to give Merchant Services unlimited discretion to charge whatever it wants even if such fees and rates are vastly different and higher than those that are clearly set forth in the application,” the suit states.
Because of this provision, Wells Fargo was able to charge companies for a range of fees that had not previously been disclosed, included minimum transactions fees and early termination penalties, the plaintiffs contend.
Wells Fargo Accused Of Overcharging Small Businesses [Ashlee Kieler/Consumerist]
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