American Express Corp. on Tuesday reached a $76 million settlement with federal regulators over allegations that it misled consumers about the benefits of extra card services, such as protection against job loss, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The card company agreed to pay $16.2 million in fines to three bank regulators, as well as $59.5 million in refunds to more than 335,000 customers. The case is the latest in a string of actions by regulators against major credit card companies over the sale of such add-on products as identity-theft protection and credit-monitoring services. The regulators charged American Express with misleading consumers about the benefits of a product that canceled debt if a customer lost a job or became disabled. The company also was accused of charging for identity-theft protection when consumers didn't want such service.
