A penalty of nearly $1 million has been assessed against a New Jersey money transferring firm by the federal consumer financial protection agency for the firm’s failure to provide accurate fee, exchange rate and other key information for money transfers it conducted, the agency said Tuesday.
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Choice Money Transfer of Englewood, N.J., violated the bureau’s Remittance Transfer Rule and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) by not accurately disclose important prepayment information to remittance senders, such as money transfer fees, current exchange rates and the date the recipient would receive the funds.
The bureau asserted that Choice Money also had deficient recordkeeping practices that “made it difficult for consumers to dispute erroneous transactions and receive a refund of certain fees.”
The CFPB said it ordered Choice Money to pay a $950,000 penalty. The proceeds will be deposited into the CFPB’s victims relief fund.
The bureau said that in addition to the penalty, Choice Money must implement “a wide-ranging set of compliance provisions to improve its policies and procedures, error resolution practices, record retention, compliance management, trainings, and audit and monitoring functions.” The firm, according to the bureau, is licensed in 27 states and the District of Columbia, operates a nationwide network of more than 2,000 agents, and transmits money to more than 90 countries. The firm handles approximately 500,000 transfers a month, the CFPB said.
CFPB Takes Action Against Choice Money for Remittance Failures