CFPB Loses Bid To Pause Comerica Social Security Debit Card Case

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will have to either pursue or drop its case against Comerica Bank over alleged inadequate customer service and illegal ATM fees after a federal judge denied the agency’s bid to pause the litigation.

The CFPB asked Judge Jane J. Boyle of the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas to stay the case while leaders appointed by President Donald Trump review whether they want to move forward with it.

But Boyle ruled Monday that the CFPB “failed to explain how staying this case would be in the interest of justice.”

Granting the CFPB’s request would prolong the “reputational harm” Comerica says the lawsuit has already caused, Boyle said.

“Because there is a fair possibility that staying the case will harm Comerica, the CFPB must identify some hardship or inequity from being required to continue litigating this case,” she said. “The CFPB has failed to do so.”

A spokesperson for Comerica declined to comment. The CFPB didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The CFPB sued Comerica in December alleging the bank charged illegal ATM fees and didn’t have proper customer service in place for Direct Express card service customers.

Direct Express allows people who don’t have bank accounts or are underbanked to get their Social Security and other federal benefits directly. The Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service in November said it selected Bank of New York Mellon Corp. to take over as the program’s financial agent.

Dropped Suits

Dallas-based Comerica, a unit of Comerica Inc., cut off around 24 million customer assistance calls and charged improper ATM fees to more than 1 million customers, the CFPB said in its suit.

Comerica sued the CFPB in November alleging the investigation into management of the Direct Express program was beyond the agency’s authority. That case remains pending.

Comerica was separately hit with a proposed class action last month alleging it improperly seized earnings from funds it held for federal benefit recipients.

The CFPB under acting Director Russell Vought has moved to voluntarily dismissaround 10 lawsuits the agency filed during the Biden administration.

Those include cases against JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., and Wells Fargo & Co. over alleged problems with the Zelle peer-to-peer payment service. The agency also dropped cases against Capital One Financial Corp., a Rocket Cos. unit, and a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

The CFPB also voluntarily dismissed its case against fintech lending platform SoLo Funds Inc. in February. In that case, a judge denied the CFPB’s motion to stay the case ahead of the two sides agreeing to drop it.

Paul Hastings LLP represents Comerica in both cases against the CFPB.

The case is CFPB v. Comerica Bank, N.D. Tex., No. 3:24-cv-03054, Order Denying Plaintiff CFPB Motion to Stay 3/10/25