Many credit cardholders will receive refunds...

Thanks to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), many credit cardholders could see a credit on their statements in the coming months. Discover, American Express and Capital One credit cards must refund about $435 million to customers because of a government crackdown on illegal and deceptive practices by the companies.

Customers that are owed the refunds will not have to take any action because the refunds will automatically show as credits on future statements. If the person has since canceled a card, the companies have been ordered to mail refund checks to the holders of any accounts affected by the illegal practices.

CNNMoney.com details what illegal actions each company took in their article titled, Refunds from credit card issuers on the way. The illegal practices included things like imposing higher late fees than they were legally allowed to charge and promising non-existent monetary rewards. Also, there was a claim that some customers were being pressured into buying additional products or services when they opened credit cards.                                         

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was instrumental in investigating and ordering the credit card companies to make payments to the deceived customers. It is a federal agency that holds the primary responsibility for regulating consumer protection relating to financial products and services in the United States.

The central mission of the CFPB is to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans. The agency assists people when they are applying for a mortgage, choosing among credit cards, or using any number of other consumer financial products. The agency works to help consumer financial markets by making rules more effective, by consistently and fairly enforcing the rules and by empowering consumers to take more control over their economic lives.

The goals of the CPFC are outlined on their site. The first goal is to educate by informing consumers about abusive practices. Their second goal is to enforce by supervising banks, credit unions, and other financial companies, and enforcing Federal consumer financial laws. The agency's third objective is to study by gathering and analyzing information to better understand consumers, financial services providers, and consumer financial markets. One very important contribution the agency works toward is giving consumers the information they need to better understand the terms of their agreements with financial companies.

The website for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can be found at: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/. They provide a great deal of information and advice on financial issues and accept complaints from consumers who have experienced difficulties with financial products or services.