Bank of America Zelle Glitch Class Action Overview:
- WHO: Bank of America consumers who used Zelle are suing both companies.
- Why: The plaintiffs alleged that the bank was negligent in allowing Jelle to suffer.
- Where: The Bank of America J. Glitch class action lawsuit was filed in Arizona federal court.
Bank of America customers who use Zelle have hit both companies with a class action lawsuit, alleging they were unable to access their funds and saw their balances go into the red during the recent outage.
Plaintiff Leslie Lezcano filed a class action lawsuit in Arizona federal court on Jan. 18 against Bank of America and Jelle’s parent company, Early Warning Services LLC, alleging violations of state and federal consumer laws.
According to the lawsuit, Bank of America encountered an error on January 18 in which the bank experienced a delay in posting Zelle transactions from the previous three days.
Affected plaintiffs say they suffered “extreme hardship” as a result.
“When defendants’ service malfunctions, consumers are unable to access their funds, causing great hardship, including the inability to pay for basic necessities such as food, rent, electricity, gas and medicine,” the lawsuit says.
“Consumers were unable to pay their household bills, resulting in the assessment of late fees.”
Customers complain of permanent losses due to mistakes
Plaintiffs affected by the mistake are still facing consequences, the lawsuit alleges.
“Consumers (many of whom direct paycheck to paycheck) were left with damages including overdraft fees, late fees, and extreme anxiety and stress about whether they would be able to meet their financial obligations,” the plaintiff alleged.
Lezcano saw her Bank of America account balance dip into the red on Jan. 18 and was unable to make certain payments as a result.
“The defendants failed to fulfill their duties to their customers who relied on the defendants to ensure the availability of their funds and the accuracy of their account statements.”
Lezcano seeks to represent all Zelle customers in the United States whose funds were affected by the January 18 error. She is suing for negligence, unjust enrichment and breach of contract and seeks damages, fees, costs and a jury trial.
Meanwhile, Bank of America is Facing a class action lawsuit Alleging that it doesn’t notify account holders, it doesn’t protect them from fraud through payment platforms like Zelle and Venmo.
Were you affected by the Bank of America glitch? Let us know in the comments.
Lezcano is represented by John A. Yanchunis, Ra O Amen & Crystal Flores of Morgan & Morgan.
The Bank of America Zelle class action lawsuit is Lezcano et al., v. Early Warning Services LLC et al., case number 2:23-cv-00115, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
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