Consumer complaint received 2023-06-27
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: IL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Problem with fees

Complaint:
This communication is in regards to the following transactions on my Wells Fargo Visa credit card account. 

XX/XX/XXXX - {$5.00} INTEREST CHARGE ON CASH ADVANCES XX/XX/XXXX - {$15.00} CASH ADVANCE FEE XX/XX/XXXX - {$310.00} JPay Money Transfer XXXX FL On XX/XX/XXXX a payment was made to XXXX to fund an inmate account. During that transaction, I was asked to accept payment terms with XXXX, which I accepted. In those terms, I agreed to the following term : " 10. OTHER CHARGES. XXXX  is not responsible for any fees or charges that may be imposed by the financial institution associated with your Payment. For example, some credit card issuers may treat the use of your credit card to purchase the Service as a " cash advance '' rather than a purchase transaction, and may impose additional fees and interest rates for the transaction. JPay is not responsible for any non-sufficient funds charges, chargeback fees or other similar charges that might be imposed on you by your bank, credit card issuer or other provider. '' Based on this description, it appears that credit card companies are treating these payments differently, some as purchases, others as cash advances. Wells Cargo Mastercard treated this transaction as a cash advance. I contacted Wells Fargo via Chat and they instructed me to contact the Customer Advocacy Department at ( XXXX ) XXXX. I contacted that phone number and spoke to XXXX. XXXX would not supply a customer ID or any other identifying factors, so I apologize for the vague details on him. XXXX explained multiple times that I accepted the terms of agreement and cash advances are a legitimate charge, along with the interest that was charged. Despite all monthly statements being paid in full and on time every time, cash advances incur their own interest rates. I contested that the transaction was not a cash advance, and felt that it was a purchase with JPay. XXXX continued to express that XXXX was at fault and I should speak to them. To his surprise, I pulled our their transaction statement that indicates that the card issuers are determining what they want the transactions to be and that I had no way of knowing before the transaction that Wells Fargo Visa would be charging this as a purchase or cash advanced. I asked XXXX for details on this transaction that caused Wells Fargo Visa to determine that it was a cash advance. In the call, he stated that he would not share that information. He pointed out to me that the Description in the transaction field on the card says " Money Transfer. '' I explained that any purchase can have any description, but the consumer doesnt control that. The consumer only knows what they agree to during payment, which indicates that the card issuer may be the one to determine that. 

This transaction feels that it could be representative of predatory lending. Fees and interest are being charged to a consumer group that is usually in financial hardship due to being incarcerated.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief