Skip to content

Carrier Management

Critical Information for P/C Carrier Executives

Highlights

  • Culture Tips: Transforming a 150-Year-Old Mutual
  • Exclude It, Harness It, Get Greedy: Insurers' AI Playbook
  • Ranking Industry AI Talent, Maturity Leaders
  • Carrier Management
  • C-Suite
  • News
  • Research
  • Leadership
  • Markets
  • Regulation
  • Top 50
  • Members Only
  • Join
  • Login
  • Boardroom Agenda
  • CEO / Chief Executive
  • CFO / Financial
  • Underwriting
  • CTO / Technology
  • Risk
  • Brand Management & Sales
  • Investment Officers
  • Claims / Legal
  • Talent Management
Anti-Social Driving Crackdown in London Leads to $10M in Seized Sports Cars
What to Know About the Salmonella Outbreak in the U.S.
  • U.S.
  • International
  • Industry News
  • Government
  • Technology & Science
Judge Approves $106M Settlement Over Deadly 2019 New Orleans Hard Rock Hotel Collapse
As Wildfires Destroy and Displace, APCIA Says Congress Must Pass Fix Our Forests Act

See all News

  • Executive Spotlight
  • Innovation
  • Strategy
  • Leadership
  • Performance
  • Growth Initiatives
  • Social Responsibility
Another M&A Deal: AXIS Acquiring DUAL NA XS Liability Biz
The Hartford To Acquire Equitable’s Employee Benefits Biz
  • Reinsurance
  • Emerging Markets
  • Global Economy
  • Personal Lines
  • Commercial Lines
  • Specialty
Will AI Be the End of Insurance Agents?
Everest Agrees to Sell Mexico Insurance Ops to Fairfax Financial
  • Insurance Regulation
  • Securities Regulation
  • Accounting & Tax
  • Rating Agencies
NAIC Says Data Taken in Hack Has Been Published Online
Kim and Allen Lead Voting in California Insurance Commissioner Primary
Let’s Talk About Insurance Distribution Before ChatGPT Disrupts It
The $400,000 Chief of Staff Is the CEO’s Secret Weapon in the AI Age
AI Pushes Underwriting Beyond Risk Selection to Prevention
Deep Dive: Understanding Data Center Perils

See all Top 50

Why Multifamily Owners’ Safety Investments Aren’t Showing Up in Their Premiums
Design the Team Before You Design the Solution: Commercial Trucking Case Study
Are We Measuring the Value of Claims AI or Simply Measuring Its Activity?
Raised on Breaches, Digital Natives Think Differently About Cyber Risk

See all Members Only Content

Benefits

  • News for the P/C Insurance C-Suite - Focused reporting from reliable sources and experienced financial journalists.
  • Research and Analysis Not Found Elsewhere - Exclusive content from researchers think tanks, industry experts and respected analysts.
  • High-Profile Peers - Interviews with thought leaders in the global and U.S. insurance industry.

Online Access

Complete, unrestricted access to the popular CarrierManagement.com website, which provides insurance company C-suite executives with daily news, white papers, advice, instruction and editorial on how to manage insurance companies more efficiently and more effectively.

Another Wells Fargo Lawsuit, This Time Over Merchant Credit Card Fees

Print Email
August 7, 2017 by Dena Aubin

A Wells Fargo Bank joint venture that provides credit card processing services to merchants across the country has been hit with a lawsuit accusing it of using misleading sales tactics and over-billing for its services.

The proposed class action, filed on Friday in Brooklyn federal court, said Wells FargoMerchant Services promised merchants that it would give them transparent pricing but charged them unauthorized fees and disguised the fees with deceptive language in monthly statements.

Wells Fargo Merchant Services, a joint venture between Wells Fargo Bank and payment processor First Data Corp, helps process credit and debit card purchases for businesses.

“We deny the claims and plan to defend against the misrepresentations outlined in the lawsuit,” Wells Fargo spokeswoman Sara Hassell said. Pricing terms are fair, and the accusations “do not reflect how we operate our Merchant Services business,” she said.

First Data spokesman Mark Murphy declined to comment.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of tour operator Queen City Tours in Charlotte, North Carolina, defunct Pennsylvania restaurant Patti’s Pitas, and other merchants across the country who say they were charged unauthorized fees by Wells Fargo Merchant Services. Hundreds of thousands of merchants were likely affected, the lawsuit said.

“Promises were made by aggressive sales tactics and then broken,” said Adam Webb, a lawyer for the merchants. The conduct goes back about six years, he added.

Wells Fargo has been grappling with a nationwide scandal over unauthorized accounts opened by employees in its consumer banking division and numerous lawsuits over its sales practices.

The third-largest U.S. bank last year agreed to pay a $185 million fine to the U.S. government to settle claims about the unauthorized accounts. On Friday, it said it would pay the government $108 million to settle allegations that it charged military veterans hidden fees to refinance mortgages.

The lawsuit regarding cards said Wells Fargo Merchant Services hit merchants with unanticipated or unauthorized fees, such as a $35 monthly minimum charge, after they signed three-year contracts that could be terminated only by paying a $500 penalty.

Wells Fargo buried some terms in a 63-page, fine-print guide that could never be completely read or understood by a busy merchant, the lawsuit said.

Statements sent to merchants described some fees as “interchange charges,” indicating they were imposed by a credit card network, when in reality Wells Fargo Merchant Services kept part of those fees as profit, the lawsuit said.

The case is Patti’s Pitas et al v Wells Fargo Merchant Services, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No 17-cv-4583. (Reporting by Dena Aubin; editing by Frances Kerry and Dan Grebler)

Copyright 2026 Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Print Email
Boardroom AgendaCEO / Chief ExecutiveClaims / LegalCommercial LinesIndustry NewsLitigation/Liability TrendsMarketsNewsRiskThe C-SuiteU.S.Underwriting

Was this article valuable?

Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article.

Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it.

Here are more articles you may enjoy.

Why Multifamily Owners’ Safety Investments Aren’t Showing Up in Their Premiums
Zurich CEO: El Niño May Mean Fewer Hurricanes, Insurance Losses in North America
Bring It On: AI Strategy Sways Underwriter Choices of Employers
Who Gets Credit for Successful Renewal During Soft Re Market?

Related Articles

New Wells Fargo Disclosures May Jeopardize $142M Customer Class Action Settlement
Another Wells Fargo Snafu: It May Have Harmed Customers by Closing Real Accounts
Wells Fargo Accused of Charging Improper Mortgage Fees in Proposed Class Action Lawsuit
Wells Fargo Admits Discovery of 1.4M Additional Bogus Customer Accounts
Wells Fargo Will Fork Over $108M to Settle Lawsuit Over Veterans’ Loans
Wells Fargo Will Refund $80M to Customers Wrongly Charged for Car Loan Insurance
Suit Alleges Nestle’s Poland Spring Passes Off Ground Water as High-End H20
New York Regulators Seek Info From National General, Others in Wells Fargo Scandals
Wells Fargo, National General Face CA Regulatory Scrutiny in Auto Insurance Scandal
Wells Fargo Customers Sue Bank, Alleging Insurance Scheme Was a Scam

Latest Magazine

Carrier Management magazine
View All

Research & Whitepapers

Free Newsletter

NewsletterSign up to receive daily news!

Latest

  • Anti-Social Driving Crackdown in London Leads to $10M in Seized Sports Cars
  • What to Know About the Salmonella Outbreak in the U.S.
  • Judge Approves $106M Settlement Over Deadly 2019 New Orleans Hard Rock Hotel Collapse
  • As Wildfires Destroy and Displace, APCIA Says Congress Must Pass Fix Our Forests Act
  • Will AI Be the End of Insurance Agents?
  • Swiss Re Profit Beats Estimates as Reinsurer Boosts Cost Cuts
  • AXA XL to Acquire S-RM
  • Major Hedge Funds Targeted in Wave of Attempted Cyber Attacks

Research & Whitepapers

  • C-Suite
  • News
  • Leadership
  • Markets
  • Regulation
  • Top 50
  • Members Only
  • Videos

Headlines

  • Culture Tips: Transforming a 150-Year-Old Mutual
  • Exclude It, Harness It, Get Greedy: Insurers' AI Playbook
  • Ranking Industry AI Talent, Maturity Leaders

Resources

  • Videos / Podcasts
  • Contributors

Popular Topics

  • Boardroom Agenda
  • Technology
  • Financial
  • News

Brand Spotlight

  • Cotality
  • Cytora
  • Indico Data
  • Majesco
  • Verisk
  • Vertafore

Connect with us

  • Email Newsletters
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Do Not Sell My Info

Carrier Management

  • Submit Content
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us

Wells Media Group Network

  • Carrier Management iconCarrier Management
  • Insurance Journal iconInsurance Journal
  • Claims Journal iconClaims Journal
  • IJ Academy iconInsurance Journal Academy
  • Insurance Journal TV iconInsurance Journal TV
  • MyNewMarkets.com iconMyNewMarkets.com
© 2026 by Wells Media Group, Inc. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Site Map