Apple customers will be handed 19,800,00 in a new settlement with US regulators and a leading banking giant, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has confirmed.
A U.S. regulatory agency has announced a settlement involving Goldman Sachs and Apple, which will result in nearly $20 million being distributed to Apple customers.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) accused Goldman Sachs and Apple of “illegally mishandling transaction disputes” related to Apple Card users.
The CFPB claims that Apple failed to forward a significant number of reported issues to Goldman Sachs, while Goldman failed to adhere to federal requirements for investigating these disputes when receiving complaints from Apple.
As a result of these missteps, consumers experienced long delays in receiving refunds for disputed charges, and some had incorrect negative information added to their credit reports.
Additionally, the CFPB stated that both companies misled consumers regarding interest-free payment plans for Apple device purchases.
Many customers believed they would automatically qualify for interest-free monthly payments when using their Apple Card, but instead, they were charged interest.
In some instances, the interest-free payment option was not visible on Apple’s website when accessed through certain browsers.
Goldman Sachs also misled customers about how refunds would be applied, resulting in additional interest charges for some.
The Apple Card, which launched in August 2019, is issued by Goldman Sachs, with Mastercard as the payment network and Apple as the developer.
As part of the settlement, Goldman Sachs is required to pay at least $19.8 million in restitution to affected customers, along with a $45 million civil penalty.
Apple will also pay a civil penalty of $25 million.
The CFPB has indicated that it plans to “closely monitor” Goldman Sachs if the lender pursues other credit card initiatives to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future.
Shares of the company (AAPL) are up more than 20% this year-to-date at the time of this writing.
Also Read: Apple Is Now Considering A New Vision Device with Serious Computing Power
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