NEW YORK – A U.S. regulator is suing Capital One for allegedly misleading consumers about its high-yield savings account offerings – thereby “cheating” customers out of more than $2 billion in lost interest payments.

In a complaint filed Tuesday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took aim at Capital One’s promises and handling of its “360 Savings” accounts. Although Capital One promotes 360 Savings as an account with one of the highest interest rates in the country, it claims that it has frozen its interest rate at low levels for at least several years even as interest rates rose nationwide.

At the same time, the CFPB adds, the bank created “360 performance savings” where the rate increased significantly. However, the agency says Capital One did not inform 360 Savings account holders about this new offering and “instead worked to keep them in the dark” – claiming that the company marketed the products in a similar manner to obscure their distinction and prohibited employees from “proactively telling people with 360 Savings accounts about 360 Performance Savings.”

These actions mean Capital One “illegally avoided paying billions of dollars in interest to millions of consumers,” the CFPB wrote in its complaint Tuesday. The agency says it wants to impose civil penalties and provide financial relief to those affected.

“Banks shouldn’t lure people with promises they can’t keep,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a prepared statement.

In response, Capital One said it strongly disagrees with the CFPB’s allegations and plans to “vigorously defend” itself in court. The banking giant added that it was “deeply disappointed that the CFPB is continuing its recent pattern of filing last-minute lawsuits ahead of a change in administration.”

Capital One also claimed that all of its 360 banking products “offer great rates” — and “were always available within minutes to all new and existing customers without industry-standard restrictions.”

According to information on Capital One’s website, the 360 ​​Savings accounts currently carry an interest rate of just under 0.50%. 360 Performance Savings Accounts have an interest rate of approximately 3.74%.

This means that the rate for 360 Performance Savings is almost 7.5 times higher than 360 Savings today. But the CFPB says they have been further apart in the past. In July 2024, the agency notes in Tuesday’s complaint, 360 Performance Savings’ rate was more than 14 times higher than 360 Savings’.

The CFPB alleges that Capital One maintained the interest rate on its 360 Savings accounts at 0.30% between December 2020 and at least August 2024. The interest rate for 360 Performance Savings, meanwhile, climbed from 0.40% in April 2022 to as high as 4.35% in early 2024 – falling slightly to 4.25% by August, the agency noted on Tuesday.

The CFPB’s complaint against Capital One comes less than a week before President-elect Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. Despite the change in administration, some say this litigation could still exist. An analyst note from TD Cowen on Tuesday noted that the CFPB, for example, still brought enforcement lawsuits under Trump’s first term, although such litigation may also be easier to resolve under the new administration.