The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a complaint Monday against job scheduling platform Branch Messenger and Walmart for allegedly forcing delivery drivers to use costly and poorly managed deposit accounts in order to get paid.
“Walmart made false promises, illegally opened accounts and took advantage of more than a million delivery workers,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a news release. “Companies cannot force workers to get paid through accounts that drain their income with junk fees.”
The lawsuit alleges that since 2021, Branch and Walmart opened Branch accounts for more than one million drivers who are part of the Spark Driver Program, Walmart’s platform for gig economy workers to schedule and accept “last mile” deliveries, and subsequently deposited the drivers’ wages into these accounts without their consent.
The company allegedly told drivers they would be fired for not using Branch accounts and misled them about when they could access their earnings. When drivers did use the platform, they allegedly faced numerous delays or fees if they needed to transfer the money to a different account, resulting in more than $10 million in “junk fees.”
Walmart denies the agency’s allegations.
“The CFPB’s rushed lawsuit is riddled with factual errors and contains gross exaggerations and misstatements of established principles of law,” a Walmart representative wrote in a statement to CNBC. “The CFPB never gave Walmart a fair opportunity to present its case during its rushed investigation.”
The CFPB also accused Branch of failing to investigate alleged errors, failing to provide certain information, failing to follow up on stop payment requests, failing to maintain records and illegally requiring consumers to waive their rights under the law.
“Branch strongly disagrees with the CFPB’s lawsuit filed today, which misstates the law and the facts and includes intentional omissions to conceal the Bureau’s clear overreach,” a Branch representative wrote in a statement to CNBC.
Walmart has not been the only company sued by the CFPB
The lawsuit is the latest in a series of actions the CFPB has taken against companies for mishandling consumer and employee financial accounts. The agency previously sued Comerica Bank over allegations it failed to administer a federal benefits program and charged illegal fees on prepaid debit cards.
The CFPB recently filed a complaint against payment network operator Zelle, as well as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, alleging that the companies failed to properly investigate fraud reports or provide refunds to victims. The complaint says customers have lost more than $870 million since Zelle launched in 2017.
About the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a U.S. government agency charged with overseeing and regulating the operation of financial markets. Its purpose is to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive practices and to ensure that financial product markets are fair and competitive.
The CFPB performs the following functions:
- Supervises lenders, banks and other financial institutions.
- Receives complaints from consumers.
- Provides educational materials on finance.
- Research consumer experiences with financial products.
- Monitors new risks for consumers in financial markets.
- Enforces federal financial laws.
