Washington - UPI
U.S. regulators said Monday Discover bank had agreed to refund 3.5 million consumers $200 million and pay a fine to settle charges of deceptive marketing. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced the settlement jointly. It includes a $14 million civil penalty and a mandate to reimburse customers. The flawed marketing had to do with Discover\'s behavior while selling \"add-on products\" to its credit service, including payment protection, credit score tracking, identity theft protection and wallet loss protection, the agencies said. Regulators said sales of the add-on products \"often used language implying that the products were additional free \'benefits,\' rather than products for which a fee would be applied to their accounts.\" Consumers were deceived about the charges, about whether or not they had purchased the add-on services and \"enrolled without their consent,\" the agencies\' statement said.