Federal Lawsuit Alleges Walmart Illegally Created Accounts for Delivery Drivers

A federal lawsuit has been filed accusing Walmart of deceiving over a million delivery drivers by creating deposit accounts in their names without their consent, using their personal information such as Social Security numbers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) alleges that Walmart and the payments platform Branch Messenger caused drivers to incur over $10 million in fees since 2021.

The lawsuit claims that Walmart told delivery drivers, who work for its Spark Driver program, that they would lose their jobs if they didn’t use Branch accounts to receive their pay. Many drivers had their wages automatically deposited into these Branch accounts without ever agreeing to the terms and conditions. According to the complaint, drivers who didn’t want to—or didn’t know how to—access their Branch accounts often lost their job and wages.

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Despite being told they could access their earnings instantly, drivers found the process complicated. The “instant” transfer required a fee that over time accumulated to millions of dollars paid to Branch. Additionally, other transfer options took several days and were subject to limits on how much could be transferred per day or month.

Walmart, which launched its Spark Driver program in 2018, has denied the allegations, stating that the CFPB’s lawsuit was rushed and filled with factual inaccuracies. A company spokesperson added that Walmart was not given a fair chance to present its side during the investigation and would vigorously defend itself in court.

This lawsuit follows a recent legal action by the CFPB against the operator of Zelle and major banks, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, for failing to protect consumers from fraud.

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