Monday, March 3, 2014
DOJ probes PNC's merchant services practices
PNC Financial Services Group Inc., a leading provider of merchant services and one of First Data Corp.'s top five alliance partners, revealed today that it has been subpoenaed by the Consumer Protection Bureau of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Bureau is "seeking information concerning the rate of return rate for certain merchant and payment processor customers" that have depository relationships with PNC, the company stated in its filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
"We believe the subpoena is intended to determine whether, and to what extent, PNC may have facilitated fraud committed by third parties against consumers. We are cooperating with the subpoena," the statement concluded.
A spokesman for PNC, Fred Solomon, declined to comment beyond the statement, which appeared in the Pittsburgh-based banking company's latest 10K filing with the SEC. PNC is no stranger to federal investigators. In its latest 10K filing, the company also discussed subpoenas it had received from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York regarding sub-prime lending and foreclosure activities by National City Corp., a Cleveland-based bank PNC acquired in 2008.
In December 2013, PNC agreed to pay $35 million to settle fair-lending violations by National City involving minority borrowers. That marked the first fair-lending case to be pressed jointly by the Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Editorial Note:
Whether you want to upgrade your POS offerings, find a payment gateway partner, bone up on fintech regs or PCI requirements, find an upcoming trade show, read about faster payments, or discover the latest innovations in merchant acquiring, The Green Sheet is the resource for you. Since 1983, we've helped empower and connect payments professionals, starting with the merchant level salespeople who bring tailored payment acceptance and digital commerce tools, along with a host of other business services to merchants across the globe. The Green Sheet Inc. is also a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals.
Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact information, links and other details may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.
