Royal Bank of Canada has been fined $4.25 million by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) for providing inaccurate monthly credit card statements to customers, affecting 227,947 accounts. The violations occurred between 2021 and 2024 and stemmed from errors during the process of deactivating credit card accounts and migrating details to new cards after fraud was reported.
Details of the Violations
According to the FCAC statement released Thursday, RBC failed to transfer certain credits from deactivated accounts to new ones, resulting in customers receiving inaccurate statements. Some customers also incurred additional charges due to the errors. The agency emphasized that accurate disclosure is a foundational element of consumer protection under the Bank Act.
“Accurate disclosure is a foundational element of the consumer protection provisions of the Bank Act,” the FCAC said. “For consumers to make informed financial decisions, they must be provided information that is accurate.”
Remediation and Penalty
RBC transferred and refunded approximately $22.4 million to affected customers and donated $299,000 on behalf of those who could not be located. The FCAC stated that the root cause was “inadequate and ineffective control and oversight procedures and operational challenges with processes and proper reporting.” The $4.25 million penalty reflects the significant harm done to customers, among other factors. RBC paid the penalty on April 17 after receiving a notice of violation on March 18.
Previous Enforcement Actions
This is the second penalty the FCAC has announced against a major bank this year. In February, the agency imposed a $4 million penalty on Bank of Montreal (BMO) for violations related to erroneous monthly plan fees for personal deposit accounts from 2010 to 2024. BMO failed to disclose all charges, affecting 101,091 customers. The bank issued over $3 million in refunds and redressed interest, and donated more than $600,000 on behalf of unlocatable customers.
RBC was not immediately available for comment at the time of the report.
