The public protection division in Attorney General Leslie Rutledge's office identified more than 21,000 instances in which Arkansans were harmed by Wells Fargo Bank, which said in December that it would pay $575 million to resolve investigations by Arkansas, the 49 other states and Washington, D.C.
The investigations grew out of the company's disclosure in 2016 that bank employees, under pressure to reach sales goals, created 2 million fake accounts.
Of those fake accounts, 1,500 were tied to Arkansans, with bank employees either opening an account, transferring funds, making credit card applications or issuing debit cards without the customers' knowledge or consent, according to the public protection division.
Amanda Priest, the spokesman for Rutledge's office, provided a breakdown of the 21,000 instances in which Wells Fargo was found to have harmed Arkansans. Arkansas' share of the settlement was $1,298,019.
Other instances of harm to Arkansans included Wells Fargo improperly charging premiums, interest and fees to more than 6,000 vehicle-financing customers for unwanted auto insurance.
The bank also failed to ensure that more than 13,000 Arkansas customers received proper refunds on unearned portions of guaranteed asset/auto protection policies sold as part of vehicle-financing agreements, according to the division.
And Wells Fargo improperly charged nearly 400 Arkansas residential mortgage loan consumers for fees to extend their rate locks even when Wells Fargo caused the delays, a practice that's contrary to bank policy.
The public protection division didn't know how many Arkansans were harmed by the bank's actions because some may have been involved in more than one of the 21,000 instances of harm, Priest said.
At the time the scandal surfaced in 2016, Wells Fargo had two bank branches in southwest Arkansas. Only one -- in Texarkana -- remains. A branch in Ashdown closed last year.
Rutledge's office recently announced that as part of the settlement, the bank has begun a consumer redress review program to allow those who have not yet been made whole through other remediation programs to have their inquiries or complaints reviewed by a Wells Fargo team for possible relief.
As part of the program, Wells Fargo will maintain a website for at least a year to provide information regarding consumers' eligibility for redress and to help answer consumer questions, the attorney general's office said in a news release.
The website describes the issues covered by the settlement agreement and provides phone numbers that consumers may use to request review. In addition, Wells Fargo will provide periodic reports to the states about ongoing remediation efforts.
Wells Fargo's consumer redress review website may be accessed at www.wellsfargo.com/commitment/redress.
"This program is a significant step for Wells Fargo toward fixing the harm it caused to Arkansans by ensuring that eligible consumers receive the restitution due to them under the settlement," Rutledge said.
Business on 03/05/2019