American Express to pay $230 million to settle DOJ fraud probe, deceptive marketing claim – CNBC

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By November of that year, the two products were discontinued entirely.The separate civil settlement announced Thursday centered on allegations that American Express “deceptively marketed credit cards” through “an affiliated entity that initiated sales calls to small businesses.”The practices, which took place from 2014 through 2017, included “misrepresenting the card rewards or fees” and “whether credit checks would be done without a customer’s consent,” the DOJ said.The practices also allegedly included “submitting falsified financial information for prospective customers, such as overstating a business’s income.”  American Express also allegedly tried to “deceive its federally insured financial institution” to let small-business customers acquire credit cards without the legally required employer identification numbers — known as EINs.”The United States alleged that American Express employees used ‘dummy’ EINs such as ‘123456788’ in opening small business credit cards in 2015 and the first half of 2016,” the DOJ said.American Express’ settlement agreement with the DOJ’s Civil Division does not include an admission of liability or wrongdoing by the company, which denied the allegations about the EINs and deceptive credit card sales practices.”When financial companies engage in deceptive sales tactics or falsify information to cover up a failure to follow applicable regulations, they threaten the integrity of our financial system,” principal deputy assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton, head of the Civil Division, said in a statement.”Today’s settlement makes clear that the department will hold accountable those who violate the trust placed in them to follow the rules governing our financial institutions and to be truthful about their business practices,” Boynton said.Got a confidential news tip? 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Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/16/american-express-doj-fraud-credit-cards-marketing-settlement.html