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Sen. Elizabeth Warren branded Jamie Dimon “the star of the overdraft show” as she accused him and other Wall street titans of dinging customers with fees while they struggled during the pandemic.

At a testy Senate Banking Committee hearing on Thursday, the Massachusetts Democrat noted that financial regulators had eased conditions for banks at the outbreak of the pandemic. Banks, she griped, didn’t respond by waiving customers’ overdraft fees as the government had suggested.

Warren then asked each CEO with a consumer bank to raise their hands if had waived their customers’ overdraft fees as the government had suggested. Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf and Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan kept their hands down.

Warren then turned the spotlight on Dimon, noting that she had “done the math” and found that his bank had charged nearly $1.5 billion in overdraft fees last year — more than seven times any other competitor.

“Mr Dimon, will you commit right now to refund the $1.5 billion you took from consumers during the pandemic?” Warren demanded.

“No,” Dimon responded tersely, looking visibly annoyed and exasperated. “We waived fees for customers upon request if they were under stress because of COVID.”


  Chase boss Jamie Dimon was among big bankers who were grilled on Capitol Hill during a Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Chase boss Jamie Dimon was among big bankers who were grilled on Capitol Hill during a Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Warren then needled Dimon about the fees, noting that JPMorgan had racked up $27.6 billion in profits last year, implying that it could have easily afforded to ease the burden on its cash-strapped clients.

“This past year has shown corporate profits are more important to your bank than offering just a little help to struggling families even when we’re in the middle of a worldwide crisis,” Warren said. “You and your colleagues come in today to talk about how you stepped up and took care of customers during the pandemic, and it’s a bunch of baloney.”

This episode was just the latest installment of the ongoing clash between Dimon and Warren. The two have been at odds since the 2008 financial crisis. Dimon has claimed Warren doesn’t understand banks while Warren has said Dimon doesn’t like her because she understands banks too well.

“We refunded fees for more than a million customers last year,” a person close to the JPMorgan told The Post, asked about the testy Thursday exchange. “When they called us and said we’re having financial issues, we said no problem and no questions asked.”

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