CFPB fines Apple, Goldman for credit card ‘customer service breakdowns’

Tthe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced an action against Apple (AAPL) and Goldman Sachs (GS) “for customer service breakdowns and misrepresentations that impacted hundreds of thousands of Apple Card users.” The CFPB “found that Apple failed to send tens of thousands of consumer disputes of Apple Card transactions to Goldman Sachs, and when Apple did send disputes to Goldman Sachs, the bank did not follow numerous federal requirements for investigating the disputes.” Apple and Goldman launched Apple Card “despite third-party warnings to Goldman that the Apple Card disputes system was not ready due to technological issues. These failures meant that consumers faced long waits to get money back for disputed charges, and some had incorrect negative information added to their credit reports,” the agency said in a statement. The CFPB is ordering Goldman Sachs to pay at least $19.8M in redress and a $45M civil money penalty, and Apple to pay a $25M civil money penalty. The CFPB is also banning Goldman Sachs from launching a new credit card unless it can provide a credible plan that the product will actually comply with the law.