On Tuesday, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) has reached a settlement with the government under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to resolve claims that the bank is not equally accessible for individuals with disabilities.
Various ADA complaints were filed by individuals, who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities. The complaint states that WFC stopped providing phone services using a telecommunications relay service to them. Instead, the individuals were asked to call a TTY/TDD line that asked them to leave a message, which went unanswered.
WFC argued some of their call centers stopped accepting calls made through relay services due to fraud concerns and denied violating the disabilities act. The company also addressed these customers’ concerns before the Justice Department investigation began. But, with the ongoing investigation, WFC worked cooperatively with the department and came to a conclusion addressing all ADA issues in its retail banking and financial services.
WFC will pay up to $16 million to compensate individuals affected by certain violations of Title III of the ADA. The department will distribute these funds on the basis of claims.
Further, WFC will pay $55,000 civil penalty to the United States. In addition, WFC announced the payment of $1 million in charitable donations to non-profit organizations. These organizations will aid veterans having disabilities resulting from injuries persisting while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, to live independently in the community.
Under the agreement with the Justice Department, WFC will have to fully ensure providing services to individuals with disabilities nationwide through its nearly 10,000 retail banking, brokerage and mortgage stores, over 12,000 ATMs, and its telephone and website services.
Further, the company will accept relay calls and take other steps to facilitate disabled consumers to do business through phone, or computer at branches as well as automatic teller machines.
The financial institutions should not discriminate the individuals with disabilities from others and provide them with equal opportunities to use the banking services. Moreover, effective mode of communication should be provided to them so that they can easily communicate with bank individuals to fulfill their requirements.
WFC currently retains a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates into a short-term ‘Hold’ rating. The company’s peer – Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) also retains a Zacks #3 Rank (a short-term ‘Hold’ rating).
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