Bank Of America To Pay $2M Over Calls Recorded Without Customer Consent

Image courtesy of Mike Mozart

Bank of America has agreed to pay $2 million to settle allegations that it violated California law by failing to alert some customers that their phone calls to the bank were being recorded.

The district attorneys for Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, Alameda, and Ventura counties announced the settlement Tuesday, putting an end to a lawsuit that accused the bank of violating phone call recording laws by taking too long to inform customers that service calls were automatically recorded.

Under section 632 of the California Penal Code, each party to a confidential conversation must be advised at the outset if a call is being recorded, so the person may object or end the call if he or she does not wish to be recorded.

According to the civil lawsuit, Bank of America failed to make a “clear, conspicuous, and accurate disclosure to consumers about the recording at the beginning of any such communication.”

The counties note in a statement that once Bank of America was notified of the alleged issues in their disclosures, the bank worked cooperatively to make changes in the bank’s policies nationwide without admitting liability.

Under the settlement, Bank of America will pay civil penalties of $1.6 million, reimburse prosecutors’ investigative costs of $240,000, and contribute $100,000 to the Consumer Protection Prosecution Trust Fund.

Additionally, the bank will implement an internal compliance program to ensure that the policy changes are made.

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