American Express has agreed to pay $230 million to settle charges related to alleged deceptive sales practices concerning credit card and wire transfer products offered to small business customers.
The settlement includes $138.4 million in compensation, along with an additional $108 million in fines to resolve both criminal and civil investigations led by the US Department of Justice. A separate agreement with the Federal Reserve is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.
The alleged deceptive practices occurred between 2014 and 2021. During the period from 2014 to 2017, American Express is accused of providing false financial information to prospective customers, misrepresenting card rewards and fees, and conducting credit checks without obtaining customer consent.
From 2018 to 2021, the company allegedly misled customers during the sales of its wire transfer products, Payroll Rewards and Premium Wire, with reports indicating that employees referred to the latter as “very questionable.”
Additionally, the Department of Justice has accused American Express of using false employer identification numbers when opening small business credit cards to replace discontinued co-branded cards.
In November 2024, American Express enter into a data-sharing agreement with MX Technologies to develop an API-powered data access framework.