Christians celebrate as JPMorgan Chase dumps controversial payment rules that targeted conservatives

JPMorgan Chase's decision to rollback a controversial rule that targeted conservatives was greeted with joy by Christians. 

Using their WePay service, JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the US, de-banked various conservative individuals and nonprofit organizations. 

WePay forbade merchants from using the service for anything deemed to be related to 'social risk issues.' 

The bank defined a social risk issue as anything 'subject to allegation and impacts related to hate groups, systematic racism, sexual harassment and corporate culture.'

This month, the Alliance for Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative Christian legal advocacy group, discovered that the clause had been removed from WePay's terms of service, marking a major victory for the organization.

Using their WePay service, JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the US, was able to de-bank various conservative individuals and nonprofit organizations

'Chase has used this policy to discriminate on the basis of viewpoint,' Jeremy Tedesco, senior counsel at the ADF, said. In March, Tedesco testified before Congress on the weaponization of federal government against Christian groups

In a statement to Fox, a JPMorgan Chase spokesperson said that the bank supports all clients, irrespective of ideologies or beliefs.

'We support clients around the globe and in every state in the U.S., across industries, religions, and political affiliations.'

However, the ADF said that JPMorgan Chase had effectively used the WePay service to target certain clients.

'Chase has used this policy to discriminate on the basis of viewpoint,' Jeremy Tedesco, senior counsel at the ADF, said.

'The policy is a risk to every single person who uses WePay and Chase, the biggest bank in America.'

Tedesco further observed that there are millions of people who face the 'threat [of] being denied or losing payment processing.'

WePay forbade merchants from using the service for anything deemed to be related to 'social risk issues.' The bank defined a social risk issue as anything 'subject to allegation and impacts related to hate groups, systematic racism, sexual harassment and corporate culture'

Daniel E. Pinto is the current president of JPMorgan Chase, which has been accused of targeting Christian groups

'It is significant that they eliminated that policy,' he said, before declaring that the bank needs to enshrine a policy 'to not discriminating against people on their religious or political views.'

In March, Tedesco testified before Congress on the weaponization of federal government against Christian groups. 

'JPMorgan Chase de-banked the Arkansas family council for being high risk,' Tedesco told the members of the committee. 

Then he noted that the bank had 'never provided a credible reason for canceling the account of former US Senator Samuel Brownback's organization, the National Committee for Religious Freedom.'

Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick protested Chase's decision to withhold its services from a conservative event

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Over the past few years, Chase and other influential banks have abruptly removed people from their services without offering their ex-clients so much as an explanation.

'Americans shouldn't have to fear that they can lose access to their bank accounts or payment processing because of their religious and political beliefs,' Tedesco told Fox.

'We think it's a significant that Chase took this step.'

In 2021, WePay withheld its services from a Republican event hosted by nonprofit group Defense of Liberty, which featured Donald Trump Jr.

WePay explained their decision by invoking policies against servicing events associated with 'hate, racial intolerance, or items or activities that encourage, promote, facilitate, or instruct others regarding the same.'

After Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick decried the bank's action and threatened to reconsider the state's business relationship with Chase, the company reversed its decision.  

'We think it's a significant that Chase took this step,' Tedesco said of Chase's decision to change the language of its WePay policy

JPMorgan Chase later conceded that the event did not 'violate the terms of service.'

To make sure that private companies adhere to the tenets of freedom of speech, the ADF has created a Business Index that evaluates companies based on their compliance with their own policies.

According to the ADF, more than 90 percent of the companies in the index depend 'on divisive concepts like Critical Race Theory in its employee training materials.'

Forty percent of employees polled in the 2023 Freedom at Work Survey claimed that this policy tends to divide and not unite colleagues.