Treasury says largest U.S. banks let politics influence who received banking services

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The Treasury Department's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency found some of the largest banks serving the U.S. allowed political considerations, public pressure and social concerns to influence decisions about who received banking services, according to a sweeping report released Wednesday.
The OCC said it reviewed the nine largest national banks under its supervision, examining nearly 100,000 complaints and about 420,000 pages of documents. It found that all nine had used "reputation risk" policies that lacked "clear," "objective" standards and could disadvantage customers because of their political or religious views or lawful business activities.
"Banks should make decisions based on financial risk, not the political or social preferences of their employees or executives," Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said, according to a transcript of his in remarks Wednesday in Lexington, Kentucky.
The findings may lend new regulatory weight to a grievance President Donald Trump has pressed since returning to office. Trump has repeatedly accused and sued major banks for discriminating against conservatives and has said he was personally "debanked" after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, claims banks have denied.
The report lands a day after the OCC and other Treasury regulators imposed more than $1.2 billion in penalties on Bank of America over separate anti-money-laundering failures. At the same time, the OCC said it is examining whether banks' efforts to comply with anti-money-laundering rules have themselves contributed to debanking.
The review covered JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank and BMO Bank, which together held a majority of assets at OCC-supervised commercial banks when the probe began last year under a Trump executive order.
The OCC stopped short of announcing fines or sanctions Wednesday, but said it is considering additional rules aimed at preventing political or religious discrimination.
Among the cases it highlighted: JPMorgan subsidiary WePay closed accounts belonging to merchants selling Trump and conservative merchandise. An internal screening list included terms such as "MAGA," "Make America Great" and "America First," even though the OCC found neither WePay nor JPMorgan had formal written standards for deciding when flagged material amounted to prohibited hate or violence.
JPMorgan told CNBC its policies prohibit discrimination based on political or religious views and said WePay's process "did not meet our expectations." The bank said it fixed the issue and has since shut down the business.
"We are not forcing these banks to serve every customer," Gould said. "Instead, banks should evaluate every customer on objective, risk-based criteria."
Citi declined to comment. The other banks did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The Bank Policy Institute, which represents large U.S. and foreign banks, said in a statement that the industry supports "clear and consistent standards that promote access while maintaining sound risk management," adding that political or religious beliefs should not affect access to banking services.
The report also found examples cutting the other way politically.
Capital One declined relationships with an abortion-rights group after noting that about 95% of its political contributions went to Democrats, and with a public education group whose political arm endorsed only Democratic candidates. It also passed on a gun-rights group over concerns that banking it could look like an endorsement.
The practices extended beyond overtly political groups too, the report indicates.
The OCC found restrictions affecting firearms, fossil fuels, private prisons, tobacco and cryptocurrency, and said some banks' appetite for those businesses shifted with the political climate — risking a "whipsaw" effect between administrations.
All nine banks told the OCC they have since revised or consolidated policies aimed at ensuring fair access. But the regulator said none has fully acknowledged past debanking decisions or created a comprehensive program to remediate affected customers.

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