Wells Fargo and two of its business partners are set to fork out millions of dollars to individuals and businesses after agreeing to settle a class action lawsuit that alleged sales calls to potential customers of the fourth-largest US bank were secretly recorded for nearly a decade.
According to the settlement administration portal, Wells Fargo and two other defendants will pay $19.5 million to class action lawsuit members as well as meet administration costs totaling $200,000.
“The minimum cash payment for each Eligible Call is estimated to be approximately $86, but could be as high as $5,000 per call depending on how many claims are submitted.”
The class action lawsuit, which was filed in October of 2023, accused The Credit Wholesale Company, an independent sales organization, of secretly recording calls it made on behalf of Wells Fargo and fintech firm Priority Payment Systems.
The calls were being made to set up sales appointments with small businesses and individuals in order to sell them Wells Fargo and Priority Payment Systems’ credit card processing equipment and services.
“The Lawsuit alleged that an independent sales organization named The Credit Wholesale Company, Inc. (“Wholesale”) recorded certain calls to California residents without disclosing the fact that the call was being recorded in violation of Sections 632 and 632.7 of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”).”
Besides suffering the financial hit, The Credit Wholesale Company will also be required to reform its practices.
“In addition to monetary relief, Defendant Wholesale has agreed not to record appointment-setting calls to California businesses unless it discloses at the outset of the call that the call is being recorded.”
The court preliminarily approved the settlement on January 24th and the final approval hearing is scheduled for May 20th. Class members, who include businesses and individuals that received telephone calls from the Wells Fargo service provider between October 22nd of 2014 and November 17th of 2023, are required to submit their claims by April 11th.
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