The CFPB investigation found evidence that U.S. Bank officials were aware of the pressure facing employees to create fake accounts and not only did not intervene, but held incentive-compensation programs that financially rewarded employees for selling bank products and opening new accounts.
The U.S. Bank fine is not the first time a major bank has been found illegally creating accounts for unsuspecting customers without their permission. In 2016, Wells Fargo settled with regulators for $185 million after 2 million fake accounts were found to have been illegally created by employees to increase their cross-sell ratio.