Comerica Defeats Suit Over Federal Benefit Interest Payments (1)

Comerica Bank escaped a proposed class action alleging it illegally withheld interest on accounts maintained for recipients of Social Security and other federal benefits.

Plaintiffs failed to prove that the federal benefits accounts held at Comerica—now part of Fifth Third Bancorp following a $10.9 billion acquisition finalized last month—were “special deposits” that required earnings such as interest payments to be distributed to recipients, Judge Robert J. White of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan said in a Thursday ruling.

A proposed class of federal benefits recipients sued Comerica in February 2025, claiming the bank, as ...