American Express reported on Friday that several federal agencies are investigating their credit card sales practices for small businesses and consumer cards.
The company said in a regulatory filing who received a summons from the grand jury in January from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York about his sales practices for his small business credit cards.
It also received a demand for a civil inquiry from the Consumer Financial Protection Council (CFPB) seeking information on sales practices related to consumers, according to the process.
The company also said it began responding to a regulatory review led by the Office of the Currency Controller (OCC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) in May on “historic sales practices related to certain small business card sales”.
The company said it is “cooperating with all of this research and has continued to improve our controls related to our sales practices”.
“We do not believe that this matter will have a material adverse impact on our business or operating results,” he added.
The DOJ made no comment and the CFPB said it does not comment on the pending inspection work, including confirmation or denial of pending issues.
The OCC did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill.
Wall Street Newspaper reported last month that several US financial agencies were investigating the company’s card-selling practices, citing people familiar with the matter. These agencies were the OCC, along with inspectors general of the Department of the Treasury, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Federal Reserve.
Several current employees and former employees have previously told the newspaper that some salespeople have cheated or heavily armed small businesses to sign up for cards to increase sales.
Updated: 21h30