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ARTICLE · 13 OCTOBER 2026

Calling Payment Processors ‘crucial Intermediaries Between Businesses And Consumers,’ FTC Cracks Down On Two Companies

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The Federal Trade Commission has reached settlements with payment processors Nuvei and Humboldt Merchant Services, requiring them to pay millions in consumer redress for facilitating fraudulent transactions. The enforcement actions highlight the FTC's strategy of targeting payment intermediaries that enable tech support scams, unauthorized billing schemes, and other consumer fraud operations to access credit card networks.

GlobalConsumer Protection
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Saying that taking action against payment processors is an effective way to reach foreign and domestic businesses that scam consumers, the FTC has announced it has settled with two such processors, Nuvei and Humboldt Merchant Services.

“Payment processors are crucial intermediaries between businesses and consumers that must take their role seriously and operate in good faith to screen out bad actors; they should be able to do so without fear that they will become responsible whenever an associated merchant behaves poorly,” Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson and Commissioner Mark R. Meador said. “But if payment processors do not take their fraud-prevention role seriously, the Commission will move swiftly to compel them to do so.”

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