The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a report on Wednesday stating that the nine largest national banks in the United States have policies that resulted in the closure of accounts based on customers' political, religious, or business activities. The findings followed a review of 100,000 complaints and hundreds of bank decisions recorded between 2020 and September 2025.
The investigation was conducted in response to a 2025 executive order issued by President Trump, which directed federal banking regulators to examine whether financial institutions were declining business with clients based on their personal views. While some conservatives have reported being targeted, the OCC found that banks also refused to do business with organizations affiliated with the Democratic party.
The OCC report detailed specific instances of "debanking," including actions by WePay, a payment processor acquired by JPMorgan Chase in 2017. The regulator found that WePay had closed the accounts of merchants selling items related to Donald Trump. JPMorgan stated that its policies prohibit discrimination based on political or religious views and that WePay's processes did not meet the bank's expectations, noting that the issue was corrected and the business is no longer operational.
Beyond political affiliations, the agency found that banks restricted services for customers based on their industry, specifically citing businesses involved in coal mining, firearms, and oil and gas exploration. Banks such as Citibank and Wells Fargo declined to comment on the findings, referring instead to the Bank Policy Institute (BPI). The BPI stated it supports fair access to services and efforts to establish standards that prioritize material financial risk over reputational risk.
The financial scale of these actions was not fully disclosed in terms of total dollars lost, but the OCC reviewed 100,000 separate complaints to reach its conclusions. For a person or business whose account is closed, the immediate impact includes the inability to process sales, receive direct deposits, or pay employees until a new banking relationship is established. Cryptocurrency investors and energy companies, in particular, have reported difficulty maintaining the financial infrastructure necessary to operate their businesses.
The report sets a precedent for federal oversight of bank "reputational risk" policies, which institutions have used to justify ending client relationships. The BPI indicated it supports clearer standards that prioritize material financial risk over subjective factors. Following the release of this report, the OCC stated that fair access to financial services is a regulatory mandate. The agency did not announce specific fines or immediate enforcement deadlines on Wednesday, but the findings serve as the basis for ongoing supervision under the 2025 executive order.