Consumer complaint received 2023-11-10
Company: CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: DC
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Savings account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Banking errors

Complaint:
I am filing this complaint to draw the CFPBs attention to the unfair and deceptive practices of Capital One in connection with its Capital One 360 Savings Accounts and request that I be made whole for the lost interest that I would have earned had Capital One not engaged in these practices.

I have held multiple high-interest savings accounts with Capital One for more than a decade. All were opened as high-interest savings accounts under XXXX XXXX and transferred to Capital One 360 Savings Accounts when Capital One acquired XXXX XXXX. Interest rates on those accounts adjusted as interest rates declined after the acquisition. 

In XXXX, Capital One created a new variable rate savings account product with a similar name, Capital One 360 Performance Savings Account, and no longer offered Capital One 360 Savings Accounts to new customers. Capital One 360 Performance Savings Accounts were the only variable savings accounts advertised by Capital One starting in XXXX. 

As interest rates rose over the past few years, the interest rates on Capital One 360 Savings Accounts were not adjusted. In contrast, Capital One 360 Performance Savings Accounts were adjusted and widely advertised as having competitive rates. Because of the similar name and the fact that the Capital One 360 Performance Savings Accounts were the only variable savings accounts on the banks website, Capital One deceived me and other longstanding depositors with Capital One 360 Savings Accounts who reasonably thought that they were benefiting from the high-yield variable rates advertised by Capital One.

Capital One also was unfair to its longstanding depositors because the material difference in the interest rate offered on existing savings accounts was not adequately communicated to existing savings account holders. As recently as XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted Capital One customer service to consolidate some of my Capital One 360 Savings Accounts. I now know that, at the time, my Capital One 360 Savings Account was paying only 0.30 % interest while the Capital One 360 Performance Savings Accounts were paying 4.3 % interest. I was not informed that the rate on Capital One 360 Savings Accounts was no longer being adjusted, that the accounts were not being offered anymore to customers, or that there was a similar savings account with a much higher interest rate that any reasonable person would have converted their account to.

I was made aware of this issue yesterday from a newspaper article about a potential class action lawsuit. I called Capital One, transferred my money to Capital One 360 Performance Savings Accounts, and filed a complaint. The unfair and deceptive practices of Capital One have cost me and others substantial interest over an extended period of time. Furthermore, these practices are ongoing for those who still do not realize that Capital One pulled a bait and switch on their savings accounts. I request that I be made whole by adjusting the interest rate on my Capital One 36
0 Savings Account retroactively to be what was advertised for Capital Ones variable rate savings account ( i.e., to be paid the interest that I would have earned had my account been converted to a Capital One 360 Performance Savings Account when Capital One 360 Savings Accounts were no longer advertised to new customers ).

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation