Illustration by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
The banks that participate in the Zelle payments app owned by JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and others have relented in their refusal to pay back victims of imposter scams. Reuters reported today that the repayments started on June 30th and were a response to lawmaker pressure on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to compel lenders to reimburse victims.
Banks leaned on the fact that federal law only required them to pay back fraud victims if they didn’t authorize criminal transactions, leaving people who were tricked into approving payments in a lurch. Reuters wrote that the institutions were worried that if they started paying people back, it would only encourage more imposter fraud. But the Federal Trade Commission said…
