New York’s General Business Law section 399-zzz, enacted in 2011, prohibits businesses from charging extra fees to pay by mail or to receive a billing statement — but does not prohibit such businesses from ” offering consumers a credit or other incentive to elect a specific payment or billing option.”
Customers of TD Bank sued that bank for charging them $3 a month to receive paper account statements. Last week, a judge in the Southern District of New York dismissed their claims, agreeing with a 2021 Northern District of New York court that the statute violates the First Amendment. Specifically, the statute did not advance any government interest in consumer protection because it allowed credits and incentives, just not “fees.”
