The New York Times, June 4, 2019: JPMorgan Chase seeks to prohibit card customers from suing
JPMorgan Chase is trying to require its credit card customers to go into private arbitration to settle disputes — even if they involve an older account — by reintroducing provisions it dropped a decade ago.
The change, which affects about 47 million accounts, including those for Chase’s popular Sapphire cards, reflects a broader effort by Wall Street firms to prevent customers and employees from engaging in class-action lawsuits that can result in large settlements and bad publicity. Unlike court cases, arbitration cases do not leave a trail of public documents and they cannot be brought by groups of aggrieved customers.
To prevent the new individual arbitration agreement from taking effect, customers must object to it in writing by mail by Aug. 7, according to the notifications. Customers could still take action in small-claims court.
