Sen. Elizabeth Warren went head-to-head with JPMorgan Chase & Co. chief executive officer Jamie Dimon over fees charged on overdrafts during the pandemic. Warren called Dimon the "star of the overdraft show," Bloomberg reported Thursday.
The Democrat senator from Massachusetts also accused top officials from Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. of prioritizing profits over struggling Americans while her Democratic colleagues pressed Dimon and other U.S. banking executives to raise wages, diversify staff, boost lending and save the environment.
According to Warren, JPMorgan Chase collects more than seven times the amount in overdraft fees as its competitors - that amounted to nearly $1.5 billion in the past year alone even as regulators in Washington eased policies for lenders, Rolling Stone reported.
Warren said if the bank had instead waived fees last year it still would have collected $27.6 billion in profit, the report said.
Dimon is the longest serving chief executive of JPMorgan Chase. He testified before Congress this week. He disputed Warren's analysis and said the bank scrapped overdraft fees for clients who requested relief.
"I think your numbers are totally inaccurate," Dimon told Warren as the two engaged in an exchange about penalties banks impose when consumers withdraw more cash than they have in their accounts.
"Mr. Dimon, will you commit right now to refund?" Warren asked about the fees. Dimon responded: "No."
Dimon testified alongside chief executives of Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, The Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley at the oversight hearing.
"You and your colleagues come in to talk about how you stepped up and took care of customers during the pandemic, and it's a bunch of baloney," Warren said in remarks quoted by Rolling Stone.
Banks thrived through the health crisis with the industry earning a record $77 billion in profits during the first quarter, a report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. shows.
