SAN FRANCISCO–Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $110 million to settle a class action lawsuit related to the opening of more than $2 million bogus customer accounts.
This is in addition to the $185-million in fines the bank has already paid.
The new settlement is expected to additionally settle 11 other class action suits pending against the bank over the same practices.
If approved by the federal judge in San Francisco, the settlement would provide payouts to all Wells Fargo customers who say they have been victims of the bank’s bad practices from 2009 until now. Those payments would be on top of any money customers have already received as part of a settlement last year with the Los Angeles city attorney’s office and federal regulators.
Wells Fargo reported that to date it has paid refunds to holders of approximately 130,000 accounts.
In a released statement, Wells Fargo Chief Executive Tim Sloan called the agreement “another step in our journey to make things right with customers and rebuild trust.”
The payments come at a time the scandal has affected the bank’s business. It reported that credit card applications were down 53% in February versus one year earlier, while customers opened 40% fewer checking accounts.
Separately, earlier this week, Wells Fargo reported that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency downgraded its Community Reinvestment Act rating.