American Express fined for bilking card users
AFP PHOTO
WASHINGTON—Credit card giant American Express was fined $27.5 million by US regulators and ordered to refund $85 million to consumers Monday for deceiving and overcharging card users.
The Federal Reserve, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency all came down on the card issuer and bank for deceptive marketing and debt collection practices between 2003 and 2012.
Richard Cordray, director of the CFPB, said Amex violated consumer protection laws “at all stages of the game – from the moment a consumer shopped for a card to the moment the consumer got a phone call about long overdue debt.”
The Federal Reserve also faulted Amex for deficient compliance risk management and internal auditing, in an investigation that focused on Amex subsidiaries American Express Centurion Bank and American Express Bank, FSB.
