A $15 million proposed settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit against Higher One Holdings, Inc., Higher One, Inc., The Bancorp Bank, Wright Express Financial Services Corporation now known as WEX Bank, and Taylor Capital Group, Inc. ("Defendants") regarding the Fees charged and the marketing of the Higher One OneAccount. Defendants maintain that there was nothing wrong with their marketing and Fee practices and that they did not violate any laws.

Any Class Member who files a Claim will be entitled to a cash payment from the $15,000,000 settlement fund.  The size of the Payment depends on the number and type of Fees you incurred and the number of Claims that are made.

The Court still has to decide whether to approve the Settlement. Payments will be provided if the Court approves the Settlement and after appeals, if any, are resolved. Please be patient. This process can take time. 

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If you submit a valid Claim, once the Court approves this Settlement, you will receive a cash payment in the mail. The amount of the cash payment depends on the number and type of fees you incurred and the number of claims made against the $15 million Settlement Fund. The amount of this Payment will be calculated as follows.

Calculation of the Cash Payment

Defendants will create a fund of $15,000,000 as part of the Settlement. Class Counsel will apply for an award of attorneys’ fees of no more than 30% of the Settlement Fund and expenses. Plaintiffs will apply for a Class Representative Service Award of no more than $5,000 each from this fund. In addition, six individuals who were, but no longer are, plaintiffs in the case (former plaintiffs) will apply for an award of no more than $2,500 each from the Settlement Fund. After the Court determines the amounts of the attorneys’ fees and expenses and the amount of service awards to the current and former plaintiffs, those amounts will be subtracted from the Settlement Fund.

The cash payment made to each Class Member who submits a Claim will be determined by first applying an allocation formula to the net Fees incurred by the Class Member. The allocation formula weights Non-Higher One ATM Fees and PIN-Based Transaction Fees more heavily than other OneAccount Fees, but all non-refunded Fees, subject to a certain overall cap for Fees other than Non-Higher One ATM Fees and PIN Based Transaction Fees, will be included in the allocation calculation. Once this allocation formula is applied, the amount of the Payment will be a proportional share of the Settlement Fund, the size of which depends on the number of Claims received. For a more detailed explanation of the calculation of your Payment, please review paragraph 54 of the Settlement Agreement located in the Settlement Agreement tab of this website.

Practice Changes
In addition, and substantially as a result of this Litigation, Higher One has changed, or is in the process of changing, the following practices and has agreed that it and its banking partners will keep them in place for two years after the Settlement becomes final:

•  Not opening any Higher One account without requiring students’ separate affirmative consent to the Fee Schedule in addition to affirmative consent to the Account Terms and Conditions for Higher One accounts;

•  Improving the clarity and readability of the Fee Schedule, consistent with best practices as recommended by the Pew; Charitable Trust for consumer checking accounts;

•  Where a fee is charged for the use of a Non-Higher One ATM, explaining clearly in the Fee Schedule that both Higher One and an ATM owner may each assess a OneAccount holder a fee in connection with a non-Higher One ATM transaction;

•  Simplifying the process by which students may transfer their funds to other, non-Higher One checking accounts;

•  Offering a refund of up to $5 per day for Non-Higher One ATM fees incurred when Higher One ATMs are not functioning properly due to any maintenance or repair related issues or when Higher One ATMs are out of cash;

•  Eliminating entirely the Lack of Documentation Fee on OneAccounts;

•  Eliminating entirely the Abandoned Account Fee on OneAccounts;

•  Eliminating entirely the Delinquent Account Fee on OneAccounts;

•  Eliminating Insufficient Funds Fee, Non-Sufficient Funds Fee, or Overdraft Fee on recurring debit card transactions made with a OneAccount(2); and

•  Not marketing the OneAccount as “free”when marketing the basic OneAccount, even where no monthly maintenance fee is imposed.

(2) The eliminated fees were not charged on all types of OneAccounts.