American Express paying $96M in consumer redress

The CFPB announced on Wednesday it has taken action against two American Express banking subsidiaries for discriminating against consumers in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other U.S. territories by providing them with credit and charge card terms that were inferior to those available in the 50 states and for discriminating against certain consumers with Spanish-language preferences. American Express has paid about $95 million in redress to approximately 222,000 consumers during the reviews undertaken by the Bureau and American Express, and the Bureau is now ordering the company to pay at least another $1 million to complete the compensation of harmed consumers.

American Express self-reported differences between its cards issued to consumers in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and Northern Mariana Islands, and its cards offered in the 50 U.S. states, as well as differences with respect to certain consumers with a Spanish language preference. The Bureau did not find that American Express intentionally discriminated against its customers, but rather found that the differences resulted from the company's card management structure, which involved different business units overseeing the U.S. cards and cards issued in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

No civil money penalties were imposed in the Bureau's order because American Express self-reported the violations, self-initiated remediation for harmed consumers, and fully cooperated with the Bureau's review and investigation.

• Consent order in the Matter of American Express Centurion Bank and American Express Bank, FSB.