The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is suing Walmart and a financial company, saying they forced delivery drivers to pay junk fees on “costly” checking accounts and used their personal information without their consent.

The federal agency filed its lawsuit on Dec. 23 against the retailer and Branch Messenger, a financial technology company. The lawsuit argues that from the beginning, for two years, Walmart “forced workers to be paid through accounts that charged junk fees to their earnings.” in 2021.

The agency says the two companies “raked in more than $10 million in junk fees” through Walmart’s Spark Driver program — which allows people to sign up and deliver Walmart orders through an app.

The agency argues Walmart told drivers they had to use store accounts — which it called a “costly and risky product” — or lose their jobs.

“Walmart made false promises, illegally opened accounts and exploited more than a million delivery drivers,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement.

The agency further argued that Walmart and Branch “opened accounts for new drivers by using drivers’ information, including their Social Security numbers, without obtaining drivers’ consent.”

The two companies also misled workers about when they would receive their funds, the lawsuit says, promising them immediate access to their pay, even though many employees experienced delays or paid fees to transfer their funds to other accounts .

A Walmart spokesman said the lawsuit contained several inaccuracies and accused the agency of never giving Walmart a “fair opportunity to state its case.”

“The CFPB’s hasty lawsuit is riddled with factual errors and contains exaggerations and blatant misrepresentations of established legal principles,” the spokesperson said The Independent in a statement.

“We look forward to vigorously defending the company in a court that, unlike the CFPB, respects due process,” the spokesperson added.

The Independent asked Branch for comment.