Walmart illegally opened bank accounts for 1 million drivers, lawsuit alleges

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is suing Walmart and fintech company Branch Messenger for allegedly forcing more than one million delivery workers to use expensive deposit accounts to access their paychecks.

CFPB said in a news release on Monday that the companies opened deposit accounts for Walmart drivers with their personal information, including their social security numbers, without authorization.

“Walmart made false promises, illegally opened accounts, and took advantage of more than a million delivery drivers,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in the release. “Companies cannot force workers into getting paid through accounts that drain their earnings with junk fees.”

The lawsuit said in 2021, Walmart and Branch opened Branch Accounts for more than one million drivers that were part of the Spark Driver program, the retail giant’s platform for gig economy workers to accept and schedule “last mile” deliveries, and then deposited drivers’ pay into these accounts without their consent.

CFPB said drivers would be terminated if they did not want to use the service.

"Walmart and Branch also misled workers about the availability of same-day access to their earnings," CFPB said in the release. "Drivers had to follow a complex process to access their funds, and when they finally did, they faced further delays or fees if they needed to transfer the money they earned into an account of their choice."

This allegedly resulted in workers having to pay more than $10 million in "junk fees" to transfer their money into an account of their choice.

CFPB claimed Walmart and Branch deceived drivers into thinking Branch Accounts would give them "instant access" to pay but instead, drivers experienced delays when accessing their money.

Walmart denied the CFPB's claims and said it would defend itself in court in a statement to Nexstar's KNWA/FOX24.

"The CFPB’s rushed lawsuit is riddled with factual errors and contains exaggerations and blatant misstatements of settled principles of law. The CFPB never allowed Walmart a fair opportunity to present its case during their rushed investigation. We look forward to vigorously defending the Company before a court that, unlike the CFPB, honors the due process of law."

Nexstar reached out to Branch for comment but had not heard back at the time of publication.