Chase Manhattan Corp. has agreed to stop sharing financial information about its credit card and mortgage customers with outside marketing firms as part of a settlement announced Tuesday by the New York State Attorney General's Office.
The New York banking company, without admitting any violations, agreed to revise its privacy policy and pay $101,500 to cover the costs of the attorney general's investigation into the matter. The settlement comes after a year of debate on protecting the privacy of customer information. In July, U.S. Bancorp in Minneapolis reached its own settlement with Minnesota officials, agreeing to stop sharing customer data with outside parties.
New York's attorney general said in a statement that Chase shared personal customer information - including credit lines and account balances - with outside marketing firms.
The outside firms used the information to solicit Chase customers by phone or mail, and Chase received a commission on business transactions between the marketing firms and Chase customers.
Visit the New York State Attorney General's site for more information on the
- Liz Moyer
