On Wednesday, a first enforcement action was filed against Capital One for deceiving over two million credit card consumers. As a result, the company will be forced to pay roughly $210 million to remedy a couple regulatory cases, which have created obstructions within the financial industry.
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Capital One has deployed deceptive marketing tactics which have led many consumers to purchase various products such as credit monitoring and payment protection, both of which are unnecessary. Now, Capital One is responsible for reimbursing $140 million to deceived consumers. In addition, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency endorsed the unfair billing processes that took place for over a decade. The Director of the Consumer Bureau, Richard Cordray, stated these various practices are unlawful and will not be accepted.
The president of credit cards from Capital One stated the company is apologetic for their behavior and that Capital One is devoted to setting the record straight with their customers.
Sources state that this case is one of the first times the consumer bureau has enforced such restrictions of deception. Coincidentally, the case occurred near the same time as the bureau’s second anniversary, which also marks a point of serious growth for the bureau. The bureau has become steadfast in protecting consumers by filing enforcement actions against banks that have deceived customers.
The Is Not New News
According to Attorney Richard Golomb from Golomb Legal, P.C., many credit card companies, not just Capital One, take advantage of their consumers by signing them up for protection agreements without the consent of customers. He continued, stating the banks continue to pitch their products to consumers.
For similar reasons, Attorney Golomb has filed class action lawsuits against the following lenders:
- Bank of America
- Citigroup
- Discover Financial
- JPMorgan Chase