The accusation of lack of money twice has an almost eerie poetic tone. This is essentially what thousands of Canadians are alleged to have experienced in the CIBC NSF class action lawsuit over fees; Years after the lawsuit was initially filed, the bank agreed to pay $10 million to resolve the issue.
Canada’s Imperial Bank of Commerce and Toronto-based law firm Koskie Minsky LLP, which initiated the class action in September 2022, are parties to the proposed settlement, which was reached on June 24, 2026. A court hearing to approve the settlement is scheduled for October 19. The Ontario Superior Court confirmed the case in 2024.
While the underlying banking mechanics are complex, the fundamental charge is simple. CIBC assessed a non-sufficient funds (NSF) fee of $45 when a customer’s pre-authorized debit transaction, such as a utility payment or subscription service, fails due to insufficient funds. Indeed, standard procedure. This is what banks have always done. However, the lawsuit alleges that CIBC assessed an additional $45 NSF fee for the same failed payment when the same merchant resubmitted the same transaction a day or two later.
The plaintiff in one case cited in the class action ultimately had to pay $90 in fees for a single fee of $7.90. Less than a tenth of the fines they paid was the original amount owed.
It’s hard to ignore how well this mechanism worked against those who were already struggling. According to the lawsuit itself, NSF fees “disproportionately fall on low-income Canadians”—those who, by definition, live on the edge of their account balances. A person who carefully manages their money on a daily basis may not even be aware that the merchant has resubmitted a failed payment. They’ll just lose another forty-five dollars. Then another one.
Cibc NSF Collection Class Action Lawsuit
CIBC customers who were assessed these alleged “second NSF fees” on pre-authorized debit transactions between September 21, 2020 and May 31, 2024 are subject to a class action lawsuit. Customers of Simplii, CIBC’s free banking subsidiary, are also covered, albeit with a slightly earlier date of December 18, 2022. Koski Minsky says qualified consumers won’t have to file a lawsuit. In the event that a settlement is accepted, CIBC will use its own records to identify the affected accounts and will immediately transfer funds to those accounts.
For its part, CIBC denies any wrongdoing. The wording used in such calculations is fairly standard: “The bank denies liability.” Both courts and consumers have become accustomed to ignoring the company’s decision to pay $10 million, while arguing that everything went wrong. The actual consequences for customers were the same regardless of whether CIBC believed it was acting within its contractual rights, which the lawsuit indicates it most likely was.
The exact number of customers who will be eligible and the size of each payment are not yet known. Given that the $10 million is distributed among a potentially significant class, some recoveries may amount to only a small amount. However, this is not only a financial issue. Situations like this send a signal to the larger banking sector. A $10 million settlement, even one that includes a disclaimer, tends to attract attention in boardrooms. In recent years, Canadian banks have come under increasing scrutiny regarding their fee structure.
A decision on formal approval of the proposed agreement will be made at an October court hearing. Impacted customers are advised to check Minsky’s Koskie website for updates or follow notifications from CIBC until then. Regardless of the perceived significance of the payout, there is something noteworthy in the result: a system that secretly billed people twice for the same mistake has finally been publicly questioned.