Royal Bank of Canada has paid a $4.25 million administrative monetary penalty after the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada found the bank violated a consumer provision of the Bank Act involving nearly 228,000 credit card accounts.
The federal agency said in a summary of proceeding released Thursday that RBC failed “to transfer credits from deactivated credit card accounts to customers’ new accounts.” The issue affected customers whose credit card accounts were deactivated and migrated to new accounts after fraud was reported.
“As a result, these customers received inaccurate monthly credit card statements, and some customers incurred additional charges,” the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada said.
RBC Credit Card Accounts Affected From 2001 To 2024
According to the FCAC, the violation affected 227,947 accounts between 2001 and 2024.
The agency said the impacted statements included inaccurate information about credited or charged amounts, interest rates and the dates when credit amounts were posted to accounts.
RBC has since transferred and refunded $22,427,774.30, according to the summary. The bank also made a $299,000 charitable donation for customers who could not be located.
FCAC Cites Oversight And Control Failures
“The root cause of the violation was inadequate and ineffective control and oversight procedures and operational challenges with processes and proper reporting,” the FCAC wrote.
The agency issued a Notice of Violation to RBC on March 18. RBC paid the administrative monetary penalty on April 17.
Bank Act Consumer Protection Rules
The FCAC said accurate disclosure is central to consumer protection under the Bank Act. It said customers “must be provided information that is accurate” so they have the information needed to make informed financial decisions.
The penalty highlights the federal regulator’s focus on financial institutions’ responsibility to maintain reliable account processes, accurate statements and proper reporting when customer accounts are changed or migrated.
