Fair practices among credit card companies are determined by the Federal Trade Commission. Most of the time, companies abide by the rules, but every now and then there are one or two that veer off course into treacherous territory.
One credit card company that is in hot water is American Express. This week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it is planning to go after two American Express banking subsidiaries for offering consumers in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Island and other U.S. territories that were inferior to those given to customers in the U.S.
Here are the numbers:
$95 million | Amount American Express paid in consumer redress
$1 million | Additional amount CFPB ordered American Express to pay for full consumer compensation
200,000 | Number of consumers harmed by American Express’ discriminatory practices
2013 | Year American Express self-reported the differences it provided for Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Island cards versus those in the U.S.
10 years | Time period consumers were affected by American Express’ discriminatory practices
