TCF Bank — having exited the auto finance space at yearend — topped the 2017 list of banks with the most complaints per $1 billion in deposits in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s database, according to data compiled by LendEDU.
The Minnesota-based bank topped the list for the second year in a row with 13.6 complaints for every $1 billion in deposits. TCF has $18.1 billion in deposits. SunTrust Banks Inc., Citizens Financial Group Inc., Fifth Third Bancorp., and CitiGroup Inc. rounded out the top five.
Wells Fargo & Co. — despite a difficult year of regulatory auto scrutiny over GAP refund policies, servicemember compliance, and improper use of force-placed auto insurance — managed to drop five places in the ranking to No. 8 with 6.48 complaints per billion.
With the CFPB’s permanent and temporary leadership in flux, LendEDU speculates this may be the last year the complaint database remains functional and public. Mick Mulvaney, the interim director of the CFPB, has promised a deregulatory tone across the agency amid challenges from Deputy Director Leandra English over control of the bureau.
President Donald Trump is likely to put forth a name that would continue Mulvaney’s deregulatory path in the permanent role, possibly including the dismantlement of the database.
“This database has become an extremely useful tool that can increase the accountability of powerful financial institutions on behalf of the consumer,” said Mike Brown, Research Analyst at LendEDU. “Diligent Americans who are curious to know about their banks have the ability to sift through thousands of complaints to decide if that financial institution is the best place for them.”
