American Express Co. acknowledged on Friday that government agencies, including the Department of Justice, have examined the company’s sales practices regarding small business cards.
The company said in a regulatory filing that in May it began responding to a regulatory review led by the Currency Controller’s Office and the DOJ’s civilian division. AmEx said the review was linked to “historical sales practices related to certain small business card sales”.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that federal investigators, including the offices of inspectors general of the Treasury Department, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve, investigating AmEx card sales. Investigators analyzed whether the company used aggressive and deceptive sales tactics to sell cards to business owners and whether customers were injured, the Journal reported.
The Justice Department works with these offices, according to people familiar with the matter.
The newspaper also reported last month that OCC is investigating the company’s business card sales practices.