AG James secured over $1 million and significant reforms from Ouro Global, Inc. (Ouro) which owns Netspend Corporation (Netspend), a provider of reloadable debit cards and payroll cards. An Office of the Attorney General (OAG) investigation found that Netspend violated numerous consumer protection laws and harmed tens of thousands of predominately low-income New Yorkers. For years, the company illegally froze its customers’ accounts and turned over their funds, which should have been protected, to debt collectors instead. Netspend also charged illegal fees on its debit and payroll cards that cost customers hundreds of thousands of dollars, and operated a paycheck advance program that charged customers illegally high interest rates. As part of the settlement, Netspend will pay more than $735,000 to tens of thousands of New Yorkers who were affected and change its policies to comply with New York’s consumer protection laws. Netspend will also pay over $350,000 in penalties to the state.

“Netspend took advantage of tens of thousands of consumers and even deprived vulnerable New Yorkers of their hard-earned benefits like Social Security. This settlement will return hundreds of thousands of dollars to New Yorkers and ensure that Netspend ends its illegal practices. I will not tolerate any company that tries to profit by defrauding New Yorkers, and we will continue to go after anyone who breaks our consumer protection laws.”- AG James

https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2025/attorney-general-james-secures-more-1-million-netspend-charging-illegal-fees-and