Bank of America, Capital One and TD Bank, N.A. · Governance finding · severity 1 of 5
On 10 and 11 September 2022 the same plaintiffs' lawyers filed five proposed class actions in federal court in San Diego against Bank of America, Capital One, TD Bank, TD Ameritrade and Fidelity Brokerage Services. Each alleged that the firm's call-centre voice biometrics created voiceprints of callers and examined their voices "to determine the truth or falsity" of what they said without the express written consent required by California Penal Code §637.3. According to the Capital One complaint, the bank used Amazon Connect Voice ID's machine-learning voice analysis. None of the cases produced a finding against any firm. The suits against TD Ameritrade, Bank of America, TD Bank and Capital One were voluntarily dismissed between October 2022 and February 2023. In February 2023 a judge ruled that Fidelity's MyVoice was "a biometric passcode and is not a lie detector", and that case was dismissed in May 2023.
Record last reviewed Oct 21, 2026 · Markdown
Date
Institution
Country
United States
AI system
Call-centre voice biometrics (Amazon Connect Voice ID at Capital One, per the complaint; Fidelity MyVoice) · Voiceprint caller authentication and fraud-risk detection; the complaints said the software "combines audio, voice, and artificial intelligence technologies" and, for Capital One, uses "ML-powered voice analysis"
AI?
Machine-learning system (inferred from the record)
The sources describe a machine-learning model; nobody on the record labelled it AI.
Category
Status
Court filing
Severity
1 of 5
Impact
Proposed classes of California callers; no class was certified. · No money was reported lost and no data exposure was alleged. The complaints sought statutory damages under §637.3 ($1,000 per violation in the Fidelity complaint, as summarised by the court). No damages were awarded and no settlement terms are public.
What happened?
The wave began on 10 September 2022 with Allen v. Bank of America, N.A. (No. 3:22-cv-01368). On 11 September the same lawyers filed Bruns v. TD Ameritrade (No. 3:22-cv-01369), Smith v. TD Bank (No. 3:22-cv-01370), Melchor v. Capital One Bank (USA), N.A. (No. 3:22-cv-01371) and Balanzar v. Fidelity Brokerage Services (No. 3:22-cv-01372), all in the Southern District of California. Bloomberg Law reported that the suits claimed the firms used voice ID systems for real-time caller authentication and fraud-risk detection without obtaining callers' consent.[1][4][6][7][9][12]
The Bank of America and Capital One complaints used near-identical wording. Each said the bank "utilizes a system that enables it to examine the voice of anyone that calls it to determine the truth or falsity of the callers' statements", and that the software "combines audio, voice, and artificial intelligence technologies to compare the callers' voices to a comprehensive database of recordings and metrics." The Capital One complaint added that, through Amazon Web Services, the bank uses Amazon Connect Voice ID for "real-time caller authentication and fraud risk detection using ML-powered voice analysis." Both complaints alleged that the banks obtained no consent, written or otherwise, from callers.[2][8]
Only the Fidelity case reached a ruling. On 3 February 2023 Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel granted Fidelity's motion to dismiss. He held that §637.3 "is limited in scope to the use of voiceprints 'to determine the truth or falsity of statements'", and that, as described in the complaint, Fidelity's MyVoice caller-verification system was a biometric passcode and not a lie detector. The plaintiffs did not amend, and on 30 May 2023 the court dismissed the action for failure to state a claim and failure to prosecute.[10][11][13]
The other four cases ended without a ruling on the merits. The TD Ameritrade complaint was dismissed on 13 September 2022 with leave to amend its jurisdictional allegations, and the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed it on 27 October 2022. In the Bank of America case the court granted three extensions on the parties' assurances that they were negotiating an out-of-court resolution; the plaintiffs filed a notice of voluntary dismissal on 15 December 2022. TD Bank and Capital One each moved to dismiss in early 2023, and both plaintiffs filed notices of voluntary dismissal on 23 February 2023, three weeks after the Fidelity ruling. No settlement terms appear in the public dockets.[1][3][4][5][6][7]
When did it happen?
- Sep 10, 2022
Allen v. Bank of America filed in the Southern District of California under California Penal Code §637.3.[1][2]
- Sep 11, 2022
Parallel suits filed against TD Ameritrade, TD Bank, Capital One and Fidelity Brokerage Services.[4][6][7][9]
- Oct 27, 2022
Plaintiffs voluntarily dismiss the TD Ameritrade suit without prejudice.[4]
- Dec 15, 2022
Plaintiffs voluntarily dismiss the Bank of America suit after court-approved extensions for settlement talks.[1][3]
- Feb 3, 2023
Court grants Fidelity's motion to dismiss, holding that MyVoice is a biometric passcode, not a lie detector.[10][13]
- Feb 23, 2023
Plaintiffs voluntarily dismiss the TD Bank and Capital One suits while motions to dismiss are pending.[6][7]
- May 30, 2023
Fidelity case dismissed for failure to state a claim and failure to prosecute after no amended complaint was filed.[9][11]
What was the impact?
- Customers: Proposed classes of California callers; no class was certified.[1][7][10]
- Other: No money was reported lost and no data exposure was alleged. The complaints sought statutory damages under §637.3 ($1,000 per violation in the Fidelity complaint, as summarised by the court). No damages were awarded and no settlement terms are public.[1][7][10]
Severity 1 of 5: Privacy allegations only: five proposed class actions that never reached class certification or a finding against any firm. Four were voluntarily dismissed within six months, and the fifth (Fidelity) was dismissed for failure to state a claim. No loss, data exposure or regulatory action was reported.
How did Bank of America, Capital One and TD Bank, N.A. respond?
No public statement by Bank of America, Capital One, TD Bank, TD Ameritrade or Fidelity was found as of 2026-10-21 (we searched news coverage, Bloomberg Law reports and the five dockets). In court, Fidelity argued that §637.3 regulates lie detection, not the use of voiceprints to identify callers, and that its customer agreement disclosed MyVoice. TD Bank and Capital One each filed motions to dismiss before their cases were withdrawn, and Bank of America told the court it was negotiating an out-of-court resolution.[3][6][7][10]
What was the outcome, and did regulators act?
All five cases are closed and none produced a finding against any firm. Four were voluntarily dismissed between October 2022 and February 2023. Fidelity's case was dismissed in February 2023 and closed by clerk's judgment on 31 May 2023. The Fidelity ruling is the only decision on the merits: it read §637.3 as a ban on voice-based lie detection without written consent, not on voiceprint caller authentication. No regulator acted.[1][4][6][7][9][10]
Did Bank of America, Capital One or TD Bank pay to settle the voiceprint lawsuits?
No settlement has been made public. The plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the Bank of America suit in December 2022 and the TD Bank and Capital One suits in February 2023. Before the Bank of America dismissal, the court had granted extensions because the parties said they were negotiating an out-of-court resolution. No terms appear on the dockets.
Is voice authentication at a bank illegal under California's §637.3?
The only ruling in this wave said no, at least as pleaded. In February 2023 a federal judge held that §637.3 covers systems that examine voiceprints to determine whether statements are true or false, and that Fidelity's MyVoice, as described, was a biometric passcode that verifies identity, not a lie detector. No appeals court has ruled on the question in these cases.
Was the banks' voice ID system AI?
The records describe a machine-learning system, according to the plaintiffs. The Bank of America and Capital One complaints said the software combines audio, voice and artificial intelligence technologies. The Capital One complaint said the bank uses Amazon Connect Voice ID's ML-powered voice analysis. The banks did not describe their systems publicly in these cases.
Are these the same as the Schwab and JPMorgan voiceprint suits?
They are related but separate. Similar 2022 privacy suits over call-centre voice biometrics were filed against Charles Schwab and JPMorgan Chase, whose systems came from Nuance. Those cases are covered in separate records. A 2023 suit over Capital One's calls was brought against Amazon Web Services rather than the bank.
- Allen v. Bank of America, No. 3:22-cv-01368 (S.D. Cal.), docket court
- Class Action Complaint, Allen et al. v. Bank of America, N.A., No. 3:22-cv-01368 (S.D. Cal.) court
- Order Granting Third Joint Motion to Extend Defendant's Deadline, Allen v. Bank of America, N.A. (Dkt. 18) court
- Bruns v. TD Ameritrade, Inc., No. 3:22-cv-01369 (S.D. Cal.), docket court
- Order Dismissing Complaint with Leave to Amend to Allege Subject Matter Jurisdiction, Bruns v. TD Ameritrade, Inc. (Dkt. 3) court
- Smith v. TD Bank, No. 3:22-cv-01370 (S.D. Cal.), docket court
- Melchor v. Capital One Bank (USA), N.A., No. 3:22-cv-01371 (S.D. Cal.), docket court
- Class Action Complaint, Melchor et al. v. Capital One Bank (USA), N.A., No. 3:22-cv-01371 (S.D. Cal.) court
- Balanzar v. Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC, No. 3:22-cv-01372 (S.D. Cal.), docket court
- Order Granting Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, Balanzar v. Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC (Dkt. 19) court
- Order Dismissing Civil Action for Failing to State a Claim and for Failing to Prosecute, Balanzar v. Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC (Dkt. 21) court
- Capital One, TD Ameritrade Sued Over Caller Voice Print Use news
- Fidelity Escapes Class Action Over Caller Voiceprint ID System news
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