These 9 major US banks debanked Americans over conservative political beliefs from MAGA to pro-life: report

These included accounts of MAGA merchants, pro-life groups, and even “disfavored” industries, including firearms makers, Arctic oil and gas, coal, private prisons, and tobacco and e-cigarette makers. Christian organizations were targeted due to their views on abortion, LGBT views, and traditional family values, according to the New York Post.

The OCC reviewed 100,000 complaints and 50,000 internal bank records and published a 47-page report.

The banks named JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, CitiBank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC, TD Bank, and BMO Bank. “Reputational risk,” including negative press, protests, criticism from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and other groups, along with reprisals from regulators and politicians, was cited as a reason to deny service. This occurred between 2020 and 2025.

The SPLC was indicted earlier this year on charges of federal fraud and money-laundering, allegedly including millions of dollars from donors. Kash Patel has called the groups a "partisan smear machine." The banks used data from the SPLC, which designates hate groups based on its own criteria.

When SPLC head Bryan Fair was asked on Capitol Hill why groups like TPUSA and traditional Catholic groups were considered "hate groups" but not Antifa, Jane’s Revenge, and Youth Liberation Front, he said that Antifa was an "ideology," not a group. Fair said, “we list groups that demonize or vilify people based on immutable characteristics or that express anti-government conspiracy theories.” and added, "it is my understanding that the FBI has said Antifa is an ideology, not a group. So, a group-if it’s not a group, wouldn’t be identified on our list.” The SPLC hate map puts Turning Point and PragerU and others alongside groups such as the KKK.

Banks used the SPLC designation as a reason to deny service. In one example, JPMorgan’s WePay closed a religious organization’s account based on the SPLC designating it an “extremist hate group.” In JPMorgan’s system, the organization was described as a “[r]ight wing religious conservative non profit with strong anti LGBT rhetoric.” Another account was closed by WePay that was being used to raise funds to support anti-discrimination legal challenge laws by “a devout Christian.”

PNC Bank states that one owner of a media company had “funded several Christian conservative groups, including several identified as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center,” listing that as the reason to decline to issue a line of credit. Another owner was called “a conservative political commentator.” The PNC employee who recommended the refusal stated, ”I think it becomes really difficult to justify aligning ourselves with a company whose owners have built very public personas around opinions very contrary to PNC’s beliefs/values.”

All nine banks have stated to the OCC that they have revised their practices, but the regulator thought that the reforms had not gone far enough. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has announced an investigation and pledged to address any consumer harm that had occurred due to the debanking practices. CFPB’s acting director, Mark Paoletta, said, “It is appalling that these banks targeted American consumers for their political, social, or religious beliefs that did not align with the Biden Administration or its leftist allies.”

The OCC is also considering further action to stop banks from discriminating based on political and religious beliefs.

President Trump issued an executive order in August, 2025 to prevent banks from debanking people over politics after he was refused service by JPMorgan Chase and the Bank of America.