Tyrone Robinson v. Bank of America, N.A.

MEMORANDUM

Tyrone Robinson (“Robinson”) sued Bank of America (“BoA”) on behalf of a putative class for fraud and unfair/deceptive trade practices related to fees charged pursuant to BoA’s CashPay card program. Robinson claims that BoA improperly failed to disclose that the $1.50/month service charge that CashPay customers agreed to pay for the account could be avoided by withdrawing all funds from the account each month, prior to assessment of the fee. Robinson based his claims on violations of the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act (Cal. Civ.Code § 1770(a)), California Unfair Competition Law (Cal. Bus. & Prof.Code § 17200, et seq.), and fraud by omission statute (Cal. Civ.Code § 1710). The district court granted BoA’s Rule 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings and dismissed Robinson’s complaint, reasoning that his claims were preempted by the National Bank Act (“NBA”), 12 U.S.C. § 24 (2006). We affirm.

The NBA permits national banks to “exercise ... all such incidental powers as shall be necessary to carry on the business of banking.” Id. These incidental powers are expounded upon by regulations of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”). See, e.g.,…