In a class-action case, the bank was accused of charging unwarranted overdraft fees to customers taking Uber rides with too little cash in their accounts, a violation of BofA’s terms. As plaintiffs allege, the charges had the effect of multiplying more than fivefold the cost of a short $8 Uber ride.
The bank “breached its contractual promises,” the lawsuit states, by assessing overdraft charges on one-off purchases that were wrongly classified as “recurring,” and thus liable to incur charges.
It’s not the first time BofA has come under scrutiny for its overdraft practices. In January, the bank agreed to pony up $27.5 million in order to settle a class-action lawsuit concerning overdraft fees being wrongfully charged to some 3 million customers. The settlement came nearly six years after the bank announced, to minor fanfare, that it would reclassify the way it charges overdraft fees on retail accounts