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Violation Tracker Individual Record

Company: JPay
Penalty: $6,000,000
Year: 2021
Date: October 19, 2021
Offense Group: consumer-protection-related offenses
Primary Offense: consumer protection violation
Violation Description: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took action against the prison financial services company JPay for violating the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) by charging consumers fees to access their own money on prepaid debit cards that consumers were forced to use. JPay also violated the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) when it required consumers to sign up for a JPay debit card as a condition of receiving government benefits --in particular, gate money, which is money provided under state law to help people meet their essential needs as they are released from incarceration. The consent order severely limits the fees JPay can charge on release cards going forward, allowing only inactivity fees after 90 days without card activity. The order also requires the company to pay $4 million for consumer redress and a $2 million civil money penalty.
Level of Government: federal
Action Type: agency action
Agency: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Civil or Criminal Case: civil
Source of Data(click here)
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Current parent company note: Parent-subsidiary relationship is current as of the most recent revision listed in the Update Log.