First Data to pay almost USD 40 mln to settle FTC charges

The charges came after the company knowingly processed payments and helped launder credit card transactions in four scams that harmed hundreds of thousands of consumers. First Data ‘looked the other way’ from 2012 to 2014 as First Pay Solutions opened hundreds of accounts for merchants engaged in fraud, the The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said. Three scams were subjects of prior FTC enforcement actions, and the fourth was a subject of a federal criminal prosecution, the agency said.

The FTC said that the payment processors will pay USD 40 million, which will be used to provide refunds to consumers. First Data also agreed to improve its screening of ‘high-risk’ merchant clients, and hire a monitor for three years.