Released: June 21, 2022

Customers say banks refuse to pay when money is stolen on Zelle

Source: Stacy Cowley & Lananh Nguyen, N.Y.Times (Paid Registration)

In recent years, payment apps like Zelle, Venmo and Cash App have become the preferred way for millions of customers to transfer money from one person to another.

Banks argue that they shouldn’t have to refund customers who inadvertently granted a scammer permission to use their accounts, they have also often been reluctant to refund customers whose money was stolen. That could be a potential violation of the law.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last year issued guidelines saying that all unauthorized online money transfers — meaning any payment initiated by someone other than the customer and done without the customer’s permission — were the bank’s liability.  But despite the updated guidance, banks in many cases are refusing to refund customers.

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