(Reuters) -Democratic U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized Wells Fargo & Co for failing to protect its customers from fraud and scams on Zelle, a digital payments platform owned by seven of the biggest U.S. banks.
In a letter dated Oct. 6 but made public on Thursday, Warren said the “alarming pattern” was made worse by the bank’s refusal to make its Zelle scam and fraud data public.
The bank’s customers are reporting fraud and scam this year at a rate that is nearly 2.5 times higher than in 2019 and twice as higher as those of other banks, said the lawmaker, who is part of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.
Wells Fargo and Zelle did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Created in 2017, Zelle has been under the scanner of some U.S. lawmakers over the possibilities of scams on the platform. In July, Warren and fellow Senator Bernie Sanders sent letters to the banks that collectively back Zelle, asking for details on customer protections.
Wells Fargo is embroiled in a litany of scandals, including one on fake accounting and another that compels it to operate under an asset cap.
The bank is scheduled to report results on Friday.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant and Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Anil D’Silva)
