Report: U.S. will fine Wells Fargo $1 billion

A Wells Fargo sign.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency could announce as early as Friday that Wells Fargo is being fined $1 billion for, among other things, charging customers for car insurance they didn't need, a person familiar with the penalty told CNN Money.

Last year, the company apologized for forcing as many as 570,000 customers into purchasing unnecessary car insurance, and said after conducting an internal review, it was discovered that 20,000 or so of those clients may have defaulted on their car loans and had their vehicles repossessed because of the insurance cost. Wells Fargo also announced in October that some mortgage borrowers were charged after missing a deadline to lock in interest rates, even though the delay was caused by the company and not customers.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.