President Donald Trump said he’s preparing an executive order to crack down on banks using political or other non-financial reasons for denying customers accounts.
He told CNBC this morning that his JPMorgan Chase account was closed despite holding “hundreds of millions” of dollars, and that Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan personally denied him an account after he left office, saying “we can’t do it.”
“Debanking” — the idea that banks deny customers whose politics they don’t like — has taken hold under the Trump administration, fueled by firms’ yielding to progressive pressure years earlier. The Trump Organization sued Capital One this spring, as it was trying to finalize a merger with Discover, alleging it closed its bank accounts after the Jan. 6 riots.
Banks are trying to backpedal. Citigroup reversed course this summer on lending to gun manufacturers and promised to conduct employee training to root out any political bias. In June, Semafor reported that Bank of America had changed its mind about banking a large operator of private prisons. “Times change,” its CEO said.
“We don’t close accounts for political reasons, and we agree with President Trump that regulatory change is desperately needed,” a JPMorgan spokeswoman said this morning. “We commend the White House for addressing this issue and look forward to working with them to get this right.” A BofA spokesman said the bank welcomes “the Trump administration’s efforts to provide regulatory clarity,” that it provided proposals, and “will continue to work with the administration and Congress.”