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June 19, 2014

CFPB: GE Capital to pay $225M to consumers

June 20, 2014 – GE Capital Retail Bank, now Synchrony Bank, has been ordered to pay some $225 million in relief to consumers harmed by illegal and discriminatory credit card practices, CFPB announced Thursday.

The bureau cited deceptive marketing practices and discrimination in announcing the order. It says this order represents "the government's largest credit card discrimination settlement in history."

Under a consent order, GE Capital will refund $56 million to about 638,000 consumers subjected to deceptive marketing practices; and to provide $169 million to some 108,000 who were excluded from debt relief offers because of their national origin. It will also make a $3.5 million penalty payment to CFPB's Civil Penalty Fund.

As for relief to be paid, "Consumers do not need to take action to obtain their relief," CFPB said. It added that for consumers who did not receive debt relief offers, GE Capital must work with credit reporting agencies to ensure any negative information associated with the consumer's GE Capital accounts as a result of the violations is deleted from their credit history.

The Department of Justice has also filed a settlement over the discrimination charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah.