A federal investigation released on Wednesday revealed that some of America’s largest banks continue to have policies that may disadvantage customers based on their political beliefs, religious affiliations, and lawful business activities.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) found that between 2020 and September 2025, all nine major banks examined operated under policies that could foster discriminatory banking practices. This inquiry, initiated under an executive order by President Donald Trump in 2025, highlighted occurrences where both conservative and liberal organizations were denied financial services. This raises troubling questions about whether banks let political factors outweigh objective assessments of financial risk.
The investigation looked into several major banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, and Wells Fargo, among others. Regulators scrutinized around 420,000 pages of banking documents, nearly 100,000 complaints, and numerous individual banking decisions.
“Today’s report provides irrefutable evidence that the nation’s largest banks have denied, debanked and discriminated against customers and lawful businesses,” Comptroller Jonathan Gould stated.
The OCC discovered that these banks relied on subjective policies related to reputation risk, which allowed management to consider political affiliations and the views of advocacy groups when determining whether to offer financial services. This also impacted lawful businesses involved in sectors like firearms, fossil fuels, tobacco, and digital assets.
For instance, PNC Bank reportedly turned down a line of credit for a media company after concerns were raised about its owners’ conservative affiliations, despite the company showing strong financial growth.
Similarly, Capital One rejected banking opportunities for organizations across the political spectrum, including both a reproductive rights group and a public education organization that primarily supported Democratic candidates. One worker noted that about 95% of the political contributions from the abortion-rights organization were directed to Democrats. Capital One also turned down a gun-rights group.
The investigation also indicated that JPMorgan Chase denied commercial financial services to a conservative retailer several times from 2021 to 2023. Furthermore, staff altered internal records to exclude politically sensitive descriptions, like “right-wing.”
A representative from JPMorgan commented that the changes to the records were made after reviews took place, emphasizing that all versions were stored in an audit file.
Additionally, WePay, a subsidiary of JPMorgan, closed accounts belonging to politically conservative merchants. For example, in February 2021, it terminated an account associated with a Trump merchandise seller. The OCC noted that WePay used terms such as “MAGA” and “Make America Great” to flag certain merchant activities. Though JPMorgan’s reputation-risk team took part in certain account closure decisions, the report stated they did not influence the closure from February 2021.
“A process used by WePay, a small technology company we acquired years ago and have since wound down, did not meet our expectations,” a JPMorgan spokesperson remarked. “We identified it, corrected it, and the business no longer operates.”
JPMorgan expressed that years of regulatory scrutiny contributed to a cautious banking atmosphere, agreeing with the Trump administration’s efforts to tackle these concerns.
The Bank Policy Institute, representing major financial institutions, emphasized the need for clearer banking standards and acknowledged the administration’s push for a focus on measurable financial risks instead of reputational issues.
The OCC’s findings expanded on earlier findings from December 2025 that primarily addressed restrictions on lawful industries. Still, the agency recognized it could not completely determine the number of affected customers or quantify their financial losses.
Wells Fargo refrained from commenting, while PNC stated it was evaluating the report but did not provide further details.
Looking ahead, the OCC hinted at the possibility of additional regulatory changes, cautioning that current reforms may not be enough to prevent similar issues from arising in the future.
Interestingly, former First Lady Melania Trump claimed in her 2024 memoir that her bank closed her account and barred her son, Barron, from opening one, which she viewed as political discrimination. However, the bank involved was not named, and these allegations have not been independently verified.
During a World Economic Forum event in January 2025, Trump confronted Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, accusing the bank of not serving conservative clients and criticized the banking practices of JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon as well.
Concerns regarding fair treatment in the banking sector also extend to the firearms industry. In August, it was reported that three financial companies assured West Virginia’s Attorney General that they would not discriminate against firearms businesses following investigations into discrimination allegations against an ammunition manufacturer.
