CFPB notches first regulatory victory

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau notched its first victory in a regulatory case, settling charges against U.S. bank Capital One, the agency said. Capital One, known for its "what's in your wallet?" television commercials, agreed to pay $210 million for deceptive sales tactics, The New York Times reported Wednesday. About $140 million of the settlement will be returned to customers. The CFPB, which was created with passage of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul bill in July 2010, charged the firm with misleading customers to sell payment protection and credit monitoring. Payment protection is designed to take over credit card payments if the card holder losses a job and forgive debts if the card holder dies. But regulators said the insurance services were sold improperly, sometimes to cardholders who did not have jobs. Some vendors also signed customers up for the services without telling them, the Times reported. Capital One said various vendors committed the misdeeds, but that it was responsible for their behavior, as well. Capital One was "accountable for the actions that vendors take on our behalf," said Ryan Schneider, the bank's president of credit cards.