JPMorgan fined $80m for unfair fraud-protection bills

US regulators Thursday ordered banking giant JPMorgan Chase to pay $80 million in penalties for billing about 2.1 million consumers for identity theft protection they did not receive. JPMorgan charged the credit-card customers monthly fees ranging from $7.99 to $11.99 for add-on services, such as "identity theft protection" and "fraud monitoring," even though the services were not performed, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a statement. The CFPB ordered JPMorgan to pay a $20 million fine. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a partner in the action, ordered the bank to pay a $60 million penalty. Both agencies separately ordered JPMorgan, the largest US bank by assets, to refund an estimated $309 million to the affected credit-card customers. "At the core of our mission is a duty to identify and root out unfair, deceptive and abusive practices in financial markets that harm consumers," said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. A spokesman for JPMorgan's Chase unit told AFP that the bank had agreed to pay the fines. Bill Wallace, head of Operations for Consumer and Consumer Banking at Chase, said in a statement that the bank had already credited or refunded the customers affected. "Any mistakes like these are regrettable and we are committed to ensuring our partners and vendors hold themselves to the same high standards that our customers expect of us," Wallace said. Separately, JPMorgan agreed Thursday to pay $920 million to US and British agencies to settle securities violations related to a massive 2012 trading loss.