NEW YORK —

Federal regulators accused Bank of America on Tuesday of harming customers by double-dipping on fees, withholding credit card rewards and opening fake accounts.

Related video above: Americans worry about their money’s safety in banks

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered Bank of America to pay more than $100 million to customers and $90 million in penalties. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency also ordered Bank of America to pay $60 million in fines.

Some of the allegations are reminiscent of the Wells Fargo scandal last decade that involved opening millions of bank accounts without customer authorization.

"Bank of America wrongfully withheld credit card rewards, double-dipped on fees, and opened accounts without consent," CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. "These practices are illegal and undermine customer trust. The CFPB will be putting an end to these practices across the banking system."

Bank of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bank of America announced it will reduce the price of overdraft fees.

Starting in May, the company said the price of an overdraft fee will go from $35 to $10.

The bank also plans to eliminate non-sufficient fund fees in February and remove the ability for clients to overdraw their accounts at an ATM.

“Over the last decade, we have made significant changes to our overdraft services and solutions, reducing clients’ reliance on overdraft, and providing resources to help clients manage their deposit accounts and overall finances responsibly,” said Holly O’Neill, president of Retail Banking at Bank of America.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has been a vocal critic of big banks and overdraft fees, called Tuesday's announcement a step in the right direction but said the fees should be completely eliminated.

In December, Capital One announced it was eliminating overdraft fees.

Forbes reports that banks made more than $12 billion in 2020 from overdraft fees.

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. —

Four months after a retired Florida couple learned hackers had drained their bank account using the Venmo app, the company says it will reimburse the entire amount.

"We’re shocked because Alan, especially was doing an awful lot of work and calling a lot of people but you know, we never really thought that it would really happen – that we would ever get that money back," said a relieved Aviva Strum, holding hands with her husband.

It's been a rough four months for the Boynton Beach couple since they learned hackers used the Venmo payment app to drain their Bank of America bank account.

"We're going around asking people if they've ever heard of Venmo and a lot of people have but we've never heard of it," Aviva said.

Apparently, hackers set up a fake Venmo account and transferred $1500 a week from the Sturm's account to themselves during March to June of this year until they'd stolen the Sturm's entire $19,500.

Despite a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office investigation, and repeated calls to Bank of America and Venmo, the Sturms couldn't get their money back, forcing them to move to a one-bedroom apartment in their assisted living facility and cancel their secondary medical insurance.

"It was just a matter of time until we ended up in the street," Alan said.

This week Alan called sister station WPBF's investigative reporter Terri Parker and after Parker began investigating, Venmo said through a spokeswoman they were going to reimburse the whole amount to the Sturms.

"That's amazing! That is the greatest news!" Alan said when Parker told them the news.

Alan said the sense of relief was enormous.

"Oh, I can get medicine now, we can go shopping and get clothes; we can go to the doctor, I can get my secondary insurance back," said Alan, who noted he has epilepsy and they both have heart problems.

A Venmo spokeswoman said they are still investigating how hackers set up the fake account and made it appear the transfers were authorized.

Venmo Statement:

“The safety and security of our customers and their information is Venmo’s top priority. When we were contacted about the situation, we worked quickly to investigate the matter and assist our customers. We take every instance of potential fraud very seriously, and the company works diligently to support and protect our customers.”

A Bank of America spokesman released a statement earlier this week saying they could not reimburse the Sturms because Venmo said the transfers were authorized by the Sturms.

Bank of America Statement:

"In general, if a transaction is unauthorized, the customer will be reimbursed. We will also work on our customer’s behalf to attempt recovery of the money even if we determine that the transaction was authorized. In this case, the merchant (Venmo) provided documentation that the client had authorized the transactions and we were unable to recover the money for the customer."

The Sturms said after months of hearing they could not get any help either from Bank of America or Venmo, they were stunned to learn of this change of events.

"It was [WPBF] that reacted and followed through — it's incredible, just incredible, and thank you," Aviva said.

The Sturms have closed their empty Bank of America bank account and will be keeping a close eye on their new one.

Bank of America is raising its hourly minimum wage for all positions.

The bank announced on Tuesday that by 2025, they would raise the hourly rate to $25.

The bank also announced that all its vendors and suppliers nationwide would be required to pay their employees at least $15 an hour.

The banking giant said 99% of its vendors already pay its employees at or above $15 an hour.

“A core tenet of responsible growth is our commitment to being a great place to work, which means investing in the people who serve our clients,” said Sheri Bronstein, chief human resources officer at Bank of America, in a news release. “That includes providing strong pay and competitive benefits to help them and their families so that we continue to attract and retain the best talent.”

The banking giant has raised the minimum hourly wage over the past four years. In 2019, it rose to $17 an hour, and in 2020, to $20.