JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are refusing to reimburse most customers who fall victim to scams on the popular Zelle payment network. According to a new report from the US Senate, Chase only reimbursed 2% of reported scams in 2023, while Wells Fargo reimbursed just 4%. This is a far cry from Bank of America, which reimbursed 24% of reported scams.
The banks are claiming that the problem isn’t with their policies, but with the criminals themselves. JPMorgan Chase says they take every claim seriously and are focused on stopping scammers. They argue that changing the law to require reimbursements won’t solve the problem.
But the Senate report paints a different picture. It shows that customers of these three banks reported over $372 million in scams and fraud on Zelle in 2023 alone. Of that, a whopping $270 million was not reimbursed.
The report also highlights a concerning trend. The overall percentage of fraud claims reimbursed by these banks dropped from 50% in 2022 to 38% in 2023.
Zelle, the payment network, claims that 99.9% of transactions completed without any issues. But the Senate report suggests that the banks may be shifting the burden of responsibility onto customers, leaving them vulnerable to scams.
This raises a serious question: Who is ultimately responsible for protecting customers from scams?
The banks, who are profiting from these transactions, or the customers themselves? /p>
