On July 26, 2018, the FTC testified before two subcommittees of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding the FTC’s continued focus on payment processors. Andrew Smith, the Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection testified before the House Subcommittees on National Security and Government Operations about the FTC’s anti-fraud program and the 25 actions taken by the FTC against payment processors since 1996.… Continue Reading

A federal district court in Atlanta has granted the defendants’ motions for Rule 37 sanctions against the CFPB for its conduct in connection with the defendants’ depositions of CFPB witnesses.  To sanction the CFPB, the court struck four counts from the CFPB’s complaint, and with no claims remaining against them, the court dismissed the defendants who sought the sanctions from the case.… Continue Reading

A new CFPB enforcement action filed in federal district court in Atlanta and unsealed last week targeting an alleged debt collection scam names as defendants not only the debt collectors and their individual principals but various companies alleged to have been “service providers” to the collectors, including payment processors.  Both the CFPB and the FTC have previously brought actions against payment processors for companies involved in alleged debt settlement or relief scams. … Continue Reading

The latest chapter in the CFPB’s “comprehensive effort to address consumer harm and to root out unlawful practices across the debt settlement industry” is a settlement announced yesterday with Global Client Solutions, “a leading debt-settlement payment processor,” its CEO, and the chairman of its parent company’s board of directors.  In its complaint filed in a California federal court concurrently with the proposed stipulated final judgment and consent order, the CFPB alleged that the defendants had violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) by assisting and facilitating the charging of unlawful advance fees by debt-relief companies (DRCs) and that such unlawful conduct also violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act. … Continue Reading