Frequently Asked Questions

The Court authorized this Notice because you have a right to know about the Settlement, and all of your options, before the Court decides whether to give Final Approval to the Settlement. This Notice explains the nature of the Action that is the subject of the Settlement, the general terms of the Settlement, and your legal rights and options.

The Honorable Sheryl H. Lipman of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee is overseeing this case captioned as In Re: Evolve Bank & Trust Customer Data Security Breach Litig., MDL No. 2:24-md-03127-SHL-cgc. The people who brought the lawsuit are called the Class Representatives. The company being sued, Evolve Bank & Trust, is called the Defendant.

Defendant is an Arkansas state-chartered bank and member of the Federal Reserve System that offers banking services to its personal banking customers and to customers of partnering financial technology companies and other financial technology companies who received banking services from Evolve through Synapse Financial Technologies, Inc. (“Evolve FinTechs”). 

The Action alleges that in February and May 2024, cybercriminals gained unauthorized access to Defendant’s information systems and accessed and exfiltrated information including names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, drivers’ license numbers, bank account numbers, and contact information (“Private Information”), including those belonging to Defendant’s personal banking customers and Evolve FinTechs’ customers (“Data Incident”). On or about July 1, 2024, Defendant began notifying individuals that the Private Information may have been compromised in the Data Incident.

Defendant denies any wrongdoing whatsoever. No court or other judicial body has made any judgment or other determination that Defendant has done anything wrong.

In a class action, one or more people called “Class Representatives” or “Plaintiffs” sue on behalf of all people who have similar claims. Together, all of these people are called a “Settlement Class,” and the individuals are called “Settlement Class Members.” One court resolves the issues for all Settlement Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Settlement Class.

The Court has not decided in favor of the Plaintiffs or Defendant. Instead, both sides agreed to the Settlement. The Settlement avoids the cost and risk of a trial and related appeals, while providing benefits to Settlement Class Members. The Class Representatives appointed to represent the Settlement Class, and the attorneys for the Settlement Class, Class Counsel, think the Settlement is best for all Settlement Class Members.

You are affected by the Settlement and potentially a Settlement Class Member if you are a person in the United States who provided their Private Information to Evolve, directly or indirectly, and whose Private Information was included in files affected by the Data Incident. 

Excluded from the Settlement Class are (a) all persons who are governing board members of Defendant; (b) governmental entities; and (c) the Court, the Court’s immediate family, and Court staff and (d) any Settlement Class Member who timely and validly requests to opt-out from the Settlement.

If you are not sure whether you are included in the Settlement, you may contact the Settlement Administrator at (833) 421-7300, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET (excluding major U.S. holidays) with questions. You may also write with questions to:

In re Evolve Bank & Trust Customer Data Security Breach Litig.
c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC
P.O. Box 225391
New York, NY 10150-5391

This data breach impacted individuals who directly held accounts with Evolve as well as individuals who had accounts with various fintechs that partnered with Evolve.  If you received notice, you either had an account with one of those fintechs or directly held an account with Evolve. 

Many fintechs partnered with Evolve to service their customers. Fintechs are any type of technology that allows people to deposit checks, pay bills, create budgets, send money to friends, invest online, or improve your credit score. Unfortunately, we do not have information about specific customer’s relationships with particular fintechs.

The Settlement provides the following Settlement Class Member Benefits available to Settlement Class Members who submit Valid Claims: (a) Cash Payment A – Documented Losses, up to $3,000 per Settlement Class Member, with reasonable supporting documentation; or (b) Cash Payment B – Flat Cash – an estimated $20 Cash Payment; and in addition to one of the Cash Payment options (c) Credit Monitoring for one (1) year of monitoring that will provide the following benefits: credit monitoring, real-time alerts, and insurance coverage for up to $1,000,000 for identity theft.

Settlement Class Members that submit a valid and timely Claim Form may select one Cash Payment option below and/or Credit Monitoring services:

1. Cash Payment A - Documented Losses: Settlement Class Members may submit a Claim for up to a total of $3,000 per Settlement Class Member, upon submission of a Claim and reasonable supporting documentation; 
   
   
   • To receive a documented loss payment, a Settlement Class Member must select Cash Payment A – Documented Losses on the Claim Form attesting under penalty of perjury to incurring documenting losses. Settlement Class Members will be required to submit reasonable documentation supporting the losses. Settlement Class Members shall not be reimbursed for expenses if they have been reimbursed for the same expenses by another source, including compensation provided in connection with the Credit Monitoring and identity theft protection product offered as part of the notification letter provided by Defendant or otherwise.
      
2. Cash Payment B – Flat Cash Payment: In the alternative to Cash Payment A – Documented Losses above, a Settlement Class Member may elect to receive Cash Payment B – Flat Cash, which is a flat Cash Payment in an estimated amount of $20;  

All Settlement Class Cash Payments (Cash Payment A and Cash Payment B) will be subject to a pro rata increase from the Settlement Fund in the event the amount of Valid Claims is insufficient to exhaust the entire Settlement Fund. Similarly, in the event the amount of Valid Claims exhausts the amount of the Settlement Fund, the amount of the Cash Payments may be reduced pro rata accordingly. And, in addition to electing one of the Cash Payment options, Settlement Class Members may also elect:

3. Credit Monitoring: In addition to selection one of the Cash Payment options, Settlement Class Members may elect one (1) year of monitoring that will provide the following benefits: Credit Monitoring, real-time alerts, and insurance coverage for up to $1,000,000 for identity theft. The Credit Monitoring Settlement Class Member Benefit has a value of $110 per year per Settlement Class Member.

To receive a Settlement Class Member Benefit, you must complete and submit a Claim Form online at here or by mail to In re Evolve Bank & Trust Customer Data Security Breach Litig., c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, P.O. Box 225391, New York, NY 10150-5391. Read the Claim Form instructions carefully, fill out the Claim Form, provide the required documentation, and submit online by October 30, 2025, 11:59 p.m. CT or by mail postmarked by October 30, 2025.

TO RECEIVE AN ELECTRONIC OR ACH PAYMENT FOR YOUR VALID CLAIM, YOU MUST FILE A CLAIM FORM ONLINE AVAILABLE HERE.

The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on November 14, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. CT to decide whether to approve the Settlement. If the Court approves the Settlement, there may be appeals from that decision and resolving them can take time. It also takes time for all of the Claim Forms to be processed. Please be patient. Cash Payments will begin after the Settlement has obtained Court approval and the time for all appeals has expired.

Defendant, its affiliates, and Evolve FinTechs will receive a Release from all claims that could have been or that were brought against them relating to the Data Incident. Thus, if the Settlement becomes final and you do not exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will be a Settlement Class Member and you will give up your right to sue Defendant and each entity which is controlled by, controlling or under common control with Defendant, and its present and former parents, subsidiaries, divisions, departments, affiliates, predecessors, successors and assigns, and any and all of their past, present, and future directors, officers, executives, officials, principals, stockholders, heirs, agents, insurers, reinsurers, members, attorneys, accountants, actuaries, fiduciaries, advisors, consultants, representatives, partners, joint venturers, licensees, licensors, independent contractors, subrogees, trustees, executors, administrators, predecessors, successors and assigns, and any other person acting on Defendant’s behalf, in their capacity as such, and Evolve FinTechs, and assigns of each of them as well as covered entities associated with the Data Incident. These Releases are described in Section XIII of the Settlement Agreement, which is available here. If you have any questions, you can talk to the law firms listed in Question 19 for free or you can talk to your own lawyer.

No. If you exclude yourself, you will not be entitled to receive any benefits from the Settlement.

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up any right to sue Defendant and any other Released Party for any claim that could have been or was brought relating to the Data Incident. You must exclude yourself from the Settlement to start your own lawsuit or to be part of any different lawsuit relating to the claims in this case. 

To exclude yourself, send an opt-out request or written notice of intent to opt-out that says you want to be excluded from the Settlement. The opt-out request must be personally signed by the individual in the Settlement Class and contain the name, address, telephone number, and email address (if any), and include a statement indicating a request to be excluded from the Settlement Class. Any individual in the Settlement Class who does not timely and validly request to opt out shall be bound by the terms of the Settlement Agreement even if he or she does not submit a Valid Claim. You must mail your opt-out request to the Settlement Administrator postmarked by October 15, 2025, to:

In re Evolve Bank & Trust Customer Data Security Breach Litig.
c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC
P.O. Box 225391
New York, NY 10150-5391

You can tell the Court that you do not agree with the Settlement, and/or Application for Attorneys’ Fees, Costs, and Service Awards or some part of it by objecting to the Settlement. If you object, you may also submit a Claim Form to receive a Settlement Class Member Benefit, and you will give up the right to sue the Defendant in any other lawsuit against Defendant relating to the Data Incident. For an objection to be a valid objection under the Settlement, it must be mailed to the Clerk of the Court, Class Counsel, Defendant’s Counsel, and the Settlement Administrator at the addresses listed below, postmarked by no later than October 15, 2025.

The objection must be written and must include all of the following: 

1. the objector’s full name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address (if any); 
2. whether it applies only to the objector, to a specific subset of the class, or to the entire class, and also state with specificity the grounds for the objection.
3. all grounds for the objection, accompanied by any legal support for the objection known to the objector or objector’s counsel; 
4. the number of times the objector has objected to a class action settlement within the 5 years preceding the date that the objector files the objection, the caption of each case in which the objector has made such objection, and a copy of any orders related to or ruling upon the objector’s prior objections that were issued by the trial and appellate courts in each listed case; 
5. the identity of all counsel who represent the objector, including any former or current counsel who may be entitled to compensation for any reason related to the objection to the Settlement and/or Application for Attorneys’ Fees, Costs, and Service Awards; 
6. the number of times in which the objector’s counsel and/or counsel’s law firm have objected to a class action settlement within the 5 years preceding the date of the filed objection, the caption of each case in which counsel or the firm has made such objection and a copy of any orders related to or ruling upon counsel’s or the counsel’s law firm’s prior objections that were issued by the trial and appellate courts in each listed case in which the objector’s counsel and/or counsel’s law firm have objected to a class action settlement within the preceding 5 years; 
7. any and all agreements that relate to the objection or the process of objecting—whether written or oral—between objector or objector’s counsel and any other person or entity; 
8. the identity of all counsel (if any) representing the objector who will appear at the Final Approval Hearing; 
9. a list of all persons who will be called to testify at the Final Approval Hearing in support of the objection (if any); 
10. a statement confirming whether the objector intends to personally appear and/or testify at the Final Approval Hearing; and
11. the objector’s signature (an attorney’s signature is not sufficient).

Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like the Settlement or parts of it and why you do not think it should be approved. You can object only if you are a Settlement Class Member. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Settlement Class and do not want to receive any payment from the Settlement. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because you are no longer a Settlement Class Member, and the case no longer affects you.

Yes. The Court appointed J. Gerard Stranch, IV of Stranch, Jennings & Garvey, PLLC, as Class Counsel to represent the Settlement Class in Settlement negotiations. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

Class Counsel shall apply to the Court for an award of attorneys’ fees of up to one-third (1/3) of the value of the Settlement Fund ($3,789,475.79), plus reimbursement of costs. Any such award would compensate Class Counsel for investigating the facts, litigating the case, and negotiating the Settlement and will be the only payment to them for their efforts in achieving this Settlement and for their risk in undertaking this representation on a wholly contingent basis.

Class Counsel will include a request for a Service Award to the Class Representatives in recognition for their contributions to this Action not to exceed $2,500 per Class Representative, from the Settlement Fund.

Any attorneys’ fees, costs and Service Award payments must be approved by the Court. The Court may award less than the amounts requested.

The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing at 2:00 p.m. CT on November 14, 2025, at the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, 167 North Main Street, Memphis, Tennessee 38103, Courtroom 1 as ordered by the Court. At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. If there are timely and valid objections, the Court will consider them and will listen to people who have asked to speak at the hearing if such a request has been properly made. The Court will also rule on the Application for Attorneys’ Fees, Costs, and Service Awards payments. After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement. We do not know how long these decisions will take. The hearing may be moved to a different date or time without additional notice, so Class Counsel recommends checking this Settlement Website, or by calling the Settlement Administrator at (833) 421-7300, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET (excluding major U.S. holidays).

No. Class Counsel will present the Settlement Class to the Court. You or your own lawyer are welcome to attend at your expense, but you are not required to do so. If you send an objection, you do not have to visit the Court to talk about it. As long as you filed your written objection on time with the Court and mailed it according to the instructions provided in Question 17, the Court will consider it.

You may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Final Approval Hearing. To do so, you must file an objection according to the instructions in Question 17, including all the information required. Your objection must be mailed to the Clerk of the Court, Class Counsel, Defendant’s Counsel and the Settlement Administrator, at the mailing addresses listed above, postmarked by no later than October 15, 2025.

If you do nothing, you will not receive any Settlement Class Member Benefits from this Settlement. If the Settlement is granted Final Approval and becomes final, you will not be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against Defendant or the other Released Parties based on any claim that could have been or that was brought relating to the Data Incident.

This Notice summarizes the Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement itself. A copy of the Settlement Agreement is available here. If you have additional questions or you need a Class Member ID, you may also contact the Settlement Administrator at (833) 421-7300, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET (excluding major U.S. holidays) or visit the Contact page of the Settlement Website here.

It is your responsibility to inform the Settlement Administrator of your updated information. You may do so at the address below, calling toll-free (833) 421-7300, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET (excluding major U.S. holidays) or at the Contact page:

In re Evolve Bank & Trust Customer Data Security Breach Litig.
c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC
P.O. Box 225391
New York, NY 10150-5391