Bank Hit By Another Suit

A St. Paul law firm is suing U.S. Bancorp and First Bank System, days after the state attorney general announced a lawsuit against U.S. Bank that alleged it sold confidential information to a telemarketer.

Attorney Harvey Eckart, who filed the lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, said Monday he is seeking to have the case certified as a class-action lawsuit for customers who were affected in U.S. Bank’s 17-state service area. The amount of damages sought hasn’t been determined, Eckart said.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Attorney General Mike Hatch accused Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank of illegally selling customer data to a telemarketing company and pocketing $4 million in commissions and fees. The lawsuit also said the telemarketer, MemberWorks Inc. of Stamford, Conn., “slammed” some bank customers, charging them for unauthorized purchases by having U.S. Bank deduct money from their accounts and credit cards.

U.S. Bancorp, the parent company of U.S. Bank, announced Thursday it has discontinued relationships with about 15 telemarketing companies, saying it was too confusing for customers to have the bank affiliated with sales of nonfinancial products.