Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Citibank Forced To Pay $700 Million To Customers

Citibank will be required to pay $700 million to 8.8 million customers for illegal credit card practices, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday.

Between 2002 and 2013, Citibank sold its credit card customers add-on services that deceptively promised to add payment flexibility by deferring or canceling payments during hard times, and to protect against fraud and identity theft.

According to the CFPB order, Citi misrepresented the costs of these products, which came under names like "AccountCare" and "PrivacyGuard," as well as what they actually did. Some consumers weren't aware they were signing up for the products when they applied for a Citi credit card, or signed up as a result of leading questions.

In other cases, the bureau said, Citi simply failed to provide the fraud and personal information protection it said it was offering, because it signed ineligible customers up for the products without informing them that they weren't eligible for it. Citi also charged some customers $14.95 to make a same-day credit card payment without informing them of other payment options.

The bank said in a statement that it "previously discontinued sales of the products included in the agreements, which include credit monitoring and debt protection products and wallet protection services, and no longer charges expedited pay-by-phone fees."

Customer eligible for refunds will automatically receive account credit or checks, Citi said.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com/
Author: Ben Walsh

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