TransUnion agreed to pay the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau $19.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, for practices relating to the advertising, marketing and sale of consumer reports, credit scores or credit monitoring products, the company announced last Thursday.
In connection with the agreement, the CFPB will require TransUnion to:
- Implement certain agreed practice changes in the way TransUnion advertises, markets and sells products and services offered directly to consumers, including more robust disclosures regarding the nature of the credit score being provided as well as confirming consumer consent if the product or service is being sold through the use of a negative option feature (i.e., a trial period becomes a recurring paid subscription unless the consumer affirmatively cancels their registration); and
- Develop and submit to the CFPB for approval a comprehensive compliance plan detailing the steps for addressing each action required by the terms of the Consent Order and specific time frames and deadlines for implementation.
Also, approximately $13.9 million of the settlement will be used to compensate eligible consumers, and $3.0 million will be used to pay a civil money penalty to the CFPB, according to an 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last Thursday. An estimated $2.5 million will also be put towards additional administrative, legal and compliance costs incurred by TransUnion in connection with the settlement.
The credit bureau originally received a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) from the CFPB on September 14, 2015.
