CFPB, financial trades clash over wire transfer fraud liability
CFPB says wire transfers are covered by the Electronic Funds Transfer Act
Financial services trade groups are railing against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s assertion that consumers who initiate a wire transfer made through their financial institution are protected by the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.
The debate is not theoretical, as the CFPB recently filed a statement with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in support of New York State’s lawsuit against Citibank. New York filed suit against Citibank in January, alleging that the bank “has not deployed sufficiently robust data security measures to protect consumer financial accounts, respond appropriately to red flags, or limit theft by scam.” In the lawsuit, the state said the bank was subject to the EFTA.
Citibank has said that wire transfers are covered by the Uniform Commercial Code, under which banks are not required to reimburse payments for unauthorized wire transfers as long as the transfers are executed in good faith and are subject to agreed-upon protections negotiated by the financial institution and customers. The bank contends that those transactions are not covered by the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.
The CFPB filed a statement disagreeing with that assertion. “When a bank connects wire transfer capabilities to its online consumer banking platform and a person authorizes (or a scammer purports to authorize) a transfer online, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act applies to the transaction except for the bank-to-bank portion of it,” the CFPB said.
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