Legal issues and news

First Data Merchant Services LLC and a former executive agreed to pay more than $40 million to settle a claim by the Federal Trade Commission that the company processed payments and laundered credit card transactions for scams targeting hundreds of thousands of consumers.

As many countries and U.S. states now begin to lift stay-at-home orders, fraudsters too are being unleashed to return to familiar targets such as bank branches, ATMs and retail stores.

The lender will pay $65 million in restitution and forgive nearly $500 million in auto debt to settle charges that it steered subprime borrowers into risky loans.

Mobile's already responsible for more than half of online fraud, and that will get worse, says ClearSales's Bernardo Lustosa.

Getting rid of passwords is easier in concept than practice, with hundreds of initiatives designed to build something more digital, flexible and transportable. But none have taken hold, causing one developer to try an approach that rejects most of the prevailing methods.

The company, formed by the merger of BB&T and SunTrust, shared the information in response to a credit union's legal challenge to its new name.

In response to Truliant Federal Credit Union's request for an injunction, the bank said it has already spent $125 million on the Truist branding, and changing that name would add further costs and damage the bank's reputation.

The order's removal allows the Delaware company to pursue more opportunities in its payments business.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are some examples of technology available now to help combat money launderers profiting from the pandemic.

Criminals developing EventBot malware built it to take advantage of businesses and humans turning to mobile banking and payments in the current coronavirus crisis — but also to update itself on the fly to become more insidious in the future.

The company, which develops "persona-based intelligence," software counts Visa and American Express among its clients.

The German bank’s money laundering controls are still not up to snuff, among other problems; three Democrats say banks may have shortchanged small-business borrowers.

Tokenization and buy buttons began, in part, as ways to calm the security concerns of online shoppers who were wary of moving away from plastic. They’re now becoming a way to keep a health and economic crisis from turning into a security problem as in-store checkout quickly gives way to apps and websites.

With the pandemic's economic toll leading to elevated billing error notices, the consumer bureau said card companies will not be cited if they fail to meet the typical time frame for resolving disputes.

The agency said Wednesday that as long as small businesses return funds they received through the Paycheck Protection Program, no action would be taken.

Cybyer criminals have become more aggressive as employees are working from home. Credit unions should take these steps to ensure they block those efforts.

Even before the coronavirus outbreak, cybercriminals were shifting their attention away from point-of-sale terminals — but the retail industry still absorbs the most attacks seeking to compromise databases or networks.

Fraudsters are attempting to intercept stimulus checks, set up bogus charities and defraud applicants for unemployment benefits. Mike Litt, consumer campaign director of U.S. Public Interest Research Group, discusses what can be done to stop them.

Mortgage lenders impose steep pricing adjustments for cash-out refinancing; bankers fear massive borrower fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program; some worry the coronavirus is giving banks an excuse to spy on employees; and more from this week's most-read stories.

Up to 12% of loans under the $660 billion small-business rescue program could be tied to misleading or completely phony applications, fueling concerns about lenders' potential liability.