A sweeping investigation by the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has revealed that several of the largest national banks in the United States have denied services to customers based on their political leanings, religious views, or specific business sectors. The report comes as part of a wider review triggered by a 2025 executive order from President Trump, aimed at identifying whether financial institutions were discriminating against conservative voices. After analyzing roughly 100,000 complaints and hundreds of individual bank decisions made between 2020 and late 2025, regulators determined that policy biases influenced how these institutions handled certain accounts.
While much of the public discourse around debanking has focused on conservative targets, the OCC noted that Democratic leaning organizations were also shut out in some instances. Beyond ideology, the report highlighted a trend of restricting services for companies operating in controversial industries, specifically those tied to firearm sales, coal mining, and oil and gas exploration. Cryptocurrency investors also reported similar struggles, claiming that banks often close their accounts simply because they are uncomfortable with the volatility or nature of the digital asset industry.
One high profile example mentioned in the findings involves WePay, a former payment processor later acquired by JPMorgan Chase. Regulators found that WePay had shuttered accounts belonging to merchants selling merchandise related to Donald Trump and his MAGA movement. A spokesperson for JPMorgan responded by stating that such discrimination violates company policy and clarified that WePay’s previous internal processes did not meet corporate expectations before the entity ceased operations. Other major players like Citibank and Wells Fargo deferred to a general statement from the Bank Policy Institute, emphasizing their commitment to serving law abiding customers while managing financial risks.
Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould emphasized that fair access to basic financial tools should be treated as a mandatory requirement rather than a suggestion. He asserted that every American deserves access to banking services regardless of their personal affiliations or beliefs. While banks often justify closing accounts due to fraud prevention or overdraft issues, this report suggests that reputational fears have frequently overridden standard operational procedures at some of the nation’s most powerful financial hubs.
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