American Express Co. (AXP) is resolving a government watchdog’s discrimination review by paying at least $96 million to customers in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories who were charged higher fees and interest rates than cardholders in the rest of the country.
The New York-based lender must also develop a plan to ensure it provides comparable terms on loans and collections of past-due accounts to customers in its Atlantic and Pacific territories going forward, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in a statement on Wednesday, Aug. 23.
“Consumer financial protections are not confined within the 50 states,” said Richard Cordray, the director of the agency established after the 2008 financial crisis to safeguard consumers against exploitation by lenders.
