Compucredit Corp

CompuCredit: A headline on an article in Business on Wednesday about penalties imposed by a U.S. bank regulator against CompuCredit Corp. for alleged deceptive practices said, "CompuCredit to pay $200 million." The article stated that the regulator had asked that the credit card marketer together with two banks repay at least that amount, in fees and charges; however, neither CompuCredit nor the two banks have agreed to do so.

CompuCredit Corp., the subprime credit card lender, will return $114 million to customers and pay a fine of $2.4 million to resolve allegations that it used deception in marketing cards, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. The Atlanta-based company violated U.S. law by inadequately disclosing fees charged on cards sold to people with low credit scores, the FDIC said. CompuCredit, without admitting or denying wrongdoing, agreed to reimburse customers through credits for fees resulting from the deceptive marketing, the FDIC said.

Federated Department Stores Inc. agreed to sell about $1.2 billion of receivables from its Fingerhut catalog and Internet unit to CompuCredit Corp. Terms weren't disclosed. CompuCredit would buy the credit-card receivables at a discount in a transaction expected to close next month. The transaction includes the assumption of $450 million in receivables-backed debt. Federated shares fell 13 cents to $39.39 on the NYSE. CompuCredit fell 5 cents to $6.78 on Nasdaq.

Providian Financial Corp. disclosed an agreement to sell 1.7 million of the risky credit card accounts that hobbled the once-high-flying company. The accounts, holding about $2.6billion in unsecured loans, will be turned over to two limited-liability companies formed by Goldman Sachs & Co., Salomon Smith Barney, CardWorks Inc. and CompuCredit Corp., an Atlanta firm that specializes in the high-risk credit card market.

A U.S. bank regulator asked CompuCredit Corp., an Atlanta marketer of credit cards to sub-prime borrowers, and two banks to repay at least $200 million in fees and charges resulting from "deceptive" practices. CompuCredit; First Bank of Delaware of Wilmington, Del.; and First Bank & Trust of Brookings, S.D., also are being asked to pay civil penalties of more than $6.6 million. They are accused of marketing sub-prime credit cards in violation of federal law, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that companies that try to repair a consumer's credit rating can force unhappy customers into arbitration rather than face lawsuits. The case involved whether disputes over the cost of credit cards provided by CompuCredit Corp. of Atlanta should be handled in arbitration, which traditionally is more friendly to businesses, or must be allowed to go to court under a 1996 law covering credit repair companies. The justices voted 8-1 in favor of CompuCredit, which asserted that disputes must by handled by arbitration.

A 1996 law sought to protect struggling consumers from businesses promising to improve their credit rating, and specifically gave customers the right to sue any firm in violation. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that credit repair companies could block such lawsuits and instead force disgruntled customers into binding arbitration if they had agreed to such a provision in the fine print of their agreements. The 8-1 decision is another in a string of high court rulings in recent years that have backed an arbitration clause over a customer's right to file a lawsuit.