Federal investigators are investigating business card sales practices at American Express Co., according to people familiar with the case.
The general offices of the Treasury Department inspectors, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve are investigating whether AmEx has used aggressive and deceptive sales tactics to sell cards to business owners and whether customers have been harmed, the people said. They also investigate whether specific employees contributed to the alleged behavior and whether senior employees supported it, some people said.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is also investigating business card sales practices at AmEx, according to people familiar with the case.
More than a dozen current and former AmEx employees previously told The Wall Street Journal that some sellers are heavily armed or misguided small business owners into signing up for cards to boost sales. Some sellers misrepresented things on card rewards and reimbursements, or issued cards that customers had not looked for, they said. An AmEx spokesperson at the time said the company had found only a very small number of issues, which were resolved “quickly and appropriately”, including through disciplinary action.
“We have robust compliance policies and controls and will not tolerate misconduct,” an AmEx spokeswoman said this week.