The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency fined Bank of America $750 million on October 13, 2026, for failures in its anti-money laundering program. It’s the largest civil money penalty in OCC history, and it hits the bank behind millions of everyday Bank of America savings and checking accounts.
The OCC penalty is one part of a larger Treasury action. FinCEN, the Treasury unit that recently ordered banks to report student aid fraud, assessed a $1.2 billion penalty that credits the OCC’s $750 million. The Office of Foreign Assets Control added an $11.6 million settlement over 475 apparent sanctions violations, according to the Associated Press.
According to a statement from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, “Financial institutions are on the front lines of protecting our economic and national security. When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond its own walls, exposing the entire U.S. financial system to significant illicit finance risks.“
Why It Matters
Bank of America is the second-largest bank in the U.S., with about 3,500 branches and 15,000 ATMs, according to the OCC consent order. The OCC’s previous record was the $450 million penalty against TD Bank in October 2024.
The money comes from the bank’s revenues, not customer accounts. The OCC says the penalty goes to the U.S. Treasury, and deposits stay protected by FDIC insurance up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category.
Why The Massive Penalties
Here’s why Bank of America is facing such massive fines:
- The bank failed to properly monitor trillions of dollars in transactions since at least 2019, leading to missed and late suspicious activity reports involving billions of dollars.
- From 2019 to 2023, management received reports showing the bank skipped suspicious activity reports on roughly 18% to 44% of potentially suspicious activity, depending on the year.
- Its backlog of cases waiting for investigator review peaked at nearly 200,000 in 2024.
- OCC examiners sampled the bank’s $102 billion credit card portfolio and flagged 10 accounts. That review led to reports on hundreds of millions of dollars in suspicious transactions.
- About 33,300 outgoing wires totaling roughly $1 billion went out with inaccurate sender information between November 2021 and October 2024.
“The bank’s poor response to its BSA deficiencies is unacceptable,” Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould said. “Financial crime compliance is serious, and we are responsible for getting it right,” Bank of America said in a statement.
How This Connects
Regulators have stepped up action against consumer-facing money platforms. The College Investor has covered Cash App’s $175 million order over fraud concerns and New York’s lawsuit against Zelle over $1 billion in alleged fraud. Both cases involved fraud moving through payment apps, while this one centers on a bank failing to flag suspicious money for investigators.
This has also been coming at a time as the U.S. government has been cracking down on waste and fraud across the board. We’re seeing it in banking, but also in financial aid and student loan disbursements.
What’s Next
Bank of America will take a $1.2 billion non-tax-deductible charge in its third-quarter results. The bank remains under its December 2024 cease-and-desist order, and the OCC kept the right to add penalties if the violations continue.
Customers who want out can follow our steps on how to switch banks.
Robert Farrington is the founder of The College Investor and is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading voices on student loan debt and saving for college. He holds an MBA from UC San Diego Rady School of Management and has spent over 15 years researching, writing, and advising on student loans, 529 plans, financial aid programs, and saving and investing for young professionals.
Robert has been featured in the The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NBC News, and Forbes, where he has been a regular personal finance contributor for over a decade. His work combines both professional expertise and personal experience – he successfully navigated his own student loan repayment journey and has helped thousands of readers do the same.
He is committed to making the intersection of personal finance and education transparent and accessible. You can learn more about Robert on the About Page or on his personal site RobertFarrington.com.
