Credit One No Live Representative for Express Payments NY and FL Class Action

When consumers don’t make a lot of money, they must sometimes pay bills at the last minute. The complaint for this class action alleges that Credit One Bank, NA charges extra for “expedited” payments, but does not obey the requirements for charging such fees set forth in Regulation Z of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA).

The class for this action is all customers of Credit One in New York and Florida who made express payments online where no live representative was involved during the applicable statute of limitations.

The complaint first faults Credit One for its habits in posting payments: “Credit One frequently fails to post customer payment to their accounts within the required and[/]or expected time frame.” Because of this, the complaint implies, those who want to ensure that their bills are paid on time and avoid “punitive and onerous late fees” must sometimes use expedited processing to make up for Credit One’s lax procedures.

Credit One does offer such expedited processing via its iPhone app. The complaint reproduces a screenshot, which shows an “Express Payment” option, with the notation, “A fee applies in most cases.”

Reg Z sets forth the methods for institutions to receive payments on open-end credit accounts, such as those associated with credit cards. The complaint says, “Generally, a creditor may not impose a separate fee to allow consumers to make a payment by any method, such as mail, electronic, or telephone payments, unless such payment method involves an expedited service by a customer service representative of the creditor.”

Does Credit One offer the help of a live representative? The complaint shows another screenshot that invites customers to “Choose your method of payment.” The Express Payment option says, “Live representative assistance for a fee of $9.95…. The other option, Standard Payment, says, “No live representative and no fee.”

But the complaint says that the Express Payment statement is not exactly true: “[A]fter an online customer selects the option to make an express payment, the only ‘live’ interaction they receive is a similar to a chatbot which requires they confirm the last four digits of their social security numbers and whether they consent to the express payment fee.”

The complaint asserts that there is an “absence of any meaningful or legitimate live representative’s role in the express payment process…” Even if a live representative was overseeing the automated responses, the complaint says, “there is no meaningful or legitimate involvement of a live person in this process.”

According to the complaint, “Credit One’s acts are abusive because they take unreasonable advantage of a consumer’s lack of understanding of the material risks, costs, or conditions of the express payment service and the consumer reasonably relies on Credit One to act in their interests.”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Loans
Tags: Charges Not Permitted by Law, Credit Cards, Debit or Credit Card Fees, Unlawful Fees, Your Bank