Major US banks have abandoned customers because of their political and religious views, regulator says

Major U.S. banks have “unbanked” customers because of their political or religious views, as well as their business activities, according to a report from the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The report, released Wednesday, examines a practice that President Trump claimed discriminates against conservatives because of their opinions. Debanking has also been highlighted by some cryptocurrency investors, who claim their accounts have been closed because banks are uncomfortable with customers in the crypto sector.

The OCC said the report complied with Mr. Trump’s 2025 executive order requiring federal banking regulators to review complaints to identify financial institutions that refused to do business with customers because of their views.

Some conservatives claimed they were unfairly targeted by financial institutions, although the OCC found that some banks also refused to do business with Democratic-leaning organizations. Bank withdrawal can also occur for legal and regulatory reasons, such as if a bank detects potentially fraudulent activity or if an account is overdrawn.

The OCC, which reviewed 100,000 complaints and hundreds of banking decisions between 2020 and September 2025, found that the nine largest national banks it oversees had policies that influenced their decisions based on political, religious or business activities.

“Americans should have access to financial services regardless of their beliefs, affiliations or political views. Equitable access to financial services is not a mantra, it is a mandate,” Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould said in a statement Wednesday.

Incidents cited in the report include the now-defunct payment processor WePay, acquired by JPMorgan Chase in 2017. WePay closed the accounts of several merchants selling items related to MAGA or Trump, the OCC said.

“Our policies prohibit discrimination against customers based on political or religious views,” a JPMorgan spokesperson said. WePay’s processes “did not meet our expectations. We identified it, fixed it and the business is no longer operating.”

The OCC also found that some banks were turning away customers based on their industry. For example, companies involved in oil and gas exploration, coal mining or firearms do not have access to certain financial services, the agency concluded.

Other banks cited in the report, including Citibank and Wells Fargo, declined to comment and pointed to a statement from the Bank Policy Institute, a banking industry trade group.

“The banking industry supports equitable access to banking services and works to ensure that government regulations and policies enable banks to serve law-abiding customers,” the Bank Policy Institute said in response to the OCC findings.

The group added: “We support efforts to establish clear and consistent standards that promote access while maintaining sound risk management, including the Administration’s recent efforts to prioritize supervisory attention on material financial risks over reputational risk.” »