CFPB lets banks off the hook and drops Zelle lawsuit

is a weekend editor who covers the latest in tech and entertainment. He has written news, reviews, and more as a tech journalist since 2020. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today dismissed a lawsuit against Early Warning Services, the company that runs the Venmo-like Zelle payment platform, as well as the three banks that share ownership of it, reports CNBC. The CFPB, which enforces regulations against the financial services industry, had claimed in its December 2024 lawsuit that the organizations had not effectively protected Zelle users “from widespread fraud,” causing customers of Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo to lose a combined $870 million since Zelle launched in 2017. The regulator’s filing says it is dismissing its court case with prejudice, meaning that it can’t bring its claims again. Eric Halperin, the CFPB’s former head of enforcement, told CNBC that doing so also means there’s no way “of clawing back funds for consumer relief.” Represen ... Read full article.