WASHINGTON, DC – The Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB) ordered Global Tel Link Corporation (GTL) and its subsidiaries to pay $3 million in restitution and penalties for “blocking” consumer accounts, preventing money transfers, taking funds from inactive accounts unlawfully and hiding fees from consumers (incarcerated people), according to CFPB.
GTL, headquartered in Virginia, conducts business under ‘ViaPath Technologies’ and has two subsidiaries — Telmate, LLC and TouchPay Holdings, LLC — based in California and Texas respectively.
ViaPath, Telmate and TouchPay provide products and services, mostly of a financial nature, to correctional facilities via contract; these products and services are often used by incarcerated individuals, and their friends and family, so that they may purchase items from commissary.
CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said GTL and its subsidiaries effectively operate with “monopoly power” and exploit “people in correctional facilities, along with their family and friends, (who) often have no choice whether to use (GTL’s) products.”
The press release states GTL’s limited exceptions ‘no-refund policy’ put consumers at a significant disadvantage, compelling them to order chargebacks; CFPB also claims there were instances in which GTL customer service even “instruct(ed)” consumers to order chargebacks.
CFPB accuses GTL of blocking accounts from receiving transfers until chargebacks amounts were paid, sometimes alongside a fee.
Beyond “blocking consumer accounts and preventing money transfers,” GTL also violated federal law by failing to effectively notify consumers about clearing account funds after inactivity and money transfer fee schedules from 2019 to 2023, the press release continues.
CFPB ordered GTL and its subsidiaries, Telmate and TouchPay: 1) to repay consumers “at least $2 million” owed due to chargeback balances, fees, and amounts GTL has embezzled from accounts; 2) to pay a $1 million “civil penalty” to CFPB’s victim relief fund; and 3) not to block accounts or embezzle funds from inactive accounts, and to disclose fee schedules to consumers.
