Brigit, which operates a personal finance app, agreed to pay $18 million to settle U.S. regulatory charges it falsely promised instant cash advances of up to $250 to consumers who live paycheck to paycheck, and locked them into $9.99 per month memberships that were hard to cancel, Reuters reported. The settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires a judge's approval and was filed on Thursday in Manhattan federal court, where the agency submitted a related civil complaint. It calls for New York-based Brigit, also known as Bridge It, to stop its alleged deceptive marketing, improve its disclosures and make it easy to cancel. The $18 million would go toward refunds for consumers. A spokesman for Brigit said the company strongly disagreed with the FTC's "factually inaccurate" claims, and that customers are told before subscribing that they may be ineligible for $250 advances, but settled to put the matter behind it.
