American Express probed over sales practices

American Express disclosed a pair of federal probes over its sales practices, according to a securities filing Friday.

AmEx said it was cooperating with a January 2021 grand jury subpoena from the US Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York over its sales practices for small business cards.

That disclosure followed reports the company had used questionable tactics to sign up small businesses.

The credit card company also has received a civil investigative demand from the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over its sales practices to consumers, AmEx said in a filing in with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

"We are cooperating with all of these inquiries and have continued to enhance our controls related to our sales practices, " AmEx said in the filing.

"We do not believe this matter will have a material adverse impact on our business or results of operations."

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that AmEx faced scrutiny from a number of federal agencies over whether it used strongarm and misleading tactics to sign up small businesses.

An earlier report in the Journal recounted instances where AmEx salespeople had misrepresented card rewards or issued unrequested cards to boost sales figures.

(Source: BSS)