Major Banks Debanked Conservatives for Views That Didn’t ‘Align’ With Biden Admin, Regulator Finds

A federal regulator says all nine of the largest national banks it supervises debanked customers based on their political, religious, or social views, with one customer losing his account for simply selling Make America Great Again products.The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Wednesday released a report of its findings as part of President Trump’s executive order “Guaranteeing Fair Access to Banking for All Americans” to determine whether the banks’ policies or practices may have required, encouraged, or otherwise influenced banks to deny or limit access to financial services to some Americans.Banks have been accused for years of denying access to conservatives. Mr. Trump said it happened to him after pressure by Biden-era regulators to close his accounts. Mr. Trump said JPMorgan informed him after he left the White House in 2021 that he had 20 days to remove hundreds of millions of dollars from his account. He claimed he was also rejected by Bank of America.The comptroller’s office said its review of JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo Bank, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank, and BMO Bank found that, between 2020 and September 2025, all nine banks had policies that led to debanking.One case highlighted in the report involved a merchant that sold MAGA merchandise. The regulator found that WePay, a payment processor owned by JPMorgan Chase Bank, closed the merchant’s account in February 2021 claiming it promoted “hate, violence, or racial intolerance.”The report found that WePay also terminated accounts for several other political or religious leaning merchants. In September 2021, WePay closed the account of a merchant that sold “conservative/republican t-shirts, hats, etc.” WePay escalated the matter to JPMorgan reputation risk employees prior to closing the account. WePay cited violations of its terms of service without identifying any changes to the merchant’s business since account opening in 2020. The notes documenting the terms of service violation included examples of merchandise that raised “red flags,” including “Trump-Won-3-x-5-foot-flag-with-grommets,” “Biden-Illegitimate-Tshirt,” and “The-Big-Lie-Sticker.”The report found it was not just conservatives that were targeted by the debanking. In 2023, Capital One rejected a banking relationship with an organization supporting reproductive rights, including abortion access, was outside its risk appetite. In evaluating the matter, one reputation risk employee noted that the organization’s contributions to politicians “are about 95% Democrat.”“Today’s report provides irrefutable evidence that the nation’s largest banks have denied, debanked and discriminated against customers and lawful businesses,” the Comptroller of the Currency, Jonathan Gould, said in a statement. “Americans should have access to financial services regardless of their beliefs, affiliations, or political views.” Mr. Gould said on X that access to banking should be based on financial risk, not political beliefs or whether an industry is “out of favor.”The report also found that banks maintained public and non-public policies restricting certain industry sectors access to financial services. Among the industries that were targeted, according to the report, were oil and gas exploration, coal mining and coal plants, firearms and ammunition, construction and operation of detention facilities, tobacco and e-cigarettes, and digital asset activities.The report highlighted a case in which Citi Bank implemented an environmental and social risk management policy that restricted it from entering into a business relationship with customers that did not have policies that aligned with the bank’s responsible firearm standards. Those policies included limitations on the sale of high-capacity magazines and restrictions on firearm sales to individuals under the age of 21.The comptroller’s office said it reviewed nearly 100,000 complaints and received approximately 50,000 documents consisting of approximately 420,000 pages from these banks regarding the banks’ policies, procedures, practices, and individual customer decisions.“Debanking wasn’t hypothetical for us,” Digital Chamber’s chief executive officer Cody Carbone said in an X post. The digital asset trade organization said it was debanked for representing a lawful industry. Mr. Carbone said the fair banking effort is “an important step” to end politicized banking.The office says it continues to work to promote fair access to financial services and it is considering further actions to prevent banks from discriminating against customers on the basis of their political or religious beliefs and to address the “problematic role” of reputation risk in bank decision-making.“Notwithstanding certain efforts by the largest banks to rein in these practices, I am not confident that they will be enough,” Mr. Gould said. The comptroller said his office is considering further changes to reduce the likelihood of the practices recurring in the future. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, on Wednesday, said it would address any consumer harm caused by the banks in response to the comptroller report. It announced it was taking new steps in its fight against the debanking of businesses and individuals on the basis of “their constitutionally protected rights, including support of President Trump, MAGA, pro-life causes, and industries disfavored by the Left.”“It is appalling that these banks targeted American consumers for their political, social, or religious beliefs that did not align with the Biden Administration or its leftist allies,” the bureau’s acting director, Mark Paoletta, said in a release.“Many of those targeted were supporters of President Trump. These thuggish tactics, which were also a defining feature of the Biden-Chopra CFPB, have no place in America,” Mr. Paoletta added.Some of the banks involved in the investigation have previously said that they don’t discriminate against customers based on their political affiliations.

Major Banks Debanked Conservatives for Views That Didn’t ‘Align’ With Biden Admin, Regulator Finds

Major Banks Debanked Conservatives for Views That Didn’t ‘Align’ With Biden Admin, Regulator Finds

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