Press Release  AG’s Office Reaches Settlement with Payment Processing Company Over Claims of Unlawful Fee Practices

BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey today announced a settlement with a payment processing company over claims it assisted with the unlawful business practices of a debt settlement company that charged vulnerable consumers premature and inflated fees in violation of state and federal law.

The assurance of discontinuance with Global Holdings LLC, filed today in Suffolk Superior Court, alleges that the company provided substantial assistance to DMB Financial, LLC, a debt settlement provider that was sued by the AG’s Office in 2018, later amended in 2019, for harming financially-distressed consumers in Massachusetts.

Global is responsible for processing settlement and fee payments for customers enrolled in debt settlement programs, including with DMB. In 2021, the AG’s Office reached a $1 million settlement with DMB over allegations it overcharged consumers, took untimely fees, misrepresented the value of its services, and failed to make critical disclosures about consumer harms. Today’s settlement resolves claims that Global transferred unlawful fee payments to DMB, despite having knowledge of DMB’s misconduct and even after the AG’s Office filed its lawsuit against DMB.

“It is important for our office to protect the economic security of vulnerable, low-income residents against harmful business practices,” said AG Healey. “We are pleased to be able to return money back to consumers through this settlement and prevent this company from facilitating unlawful fees in the future.”

Under the terms of the settlement, Global has agreed to make a $600,000 payment to the Commonwealth. Global has also agreed to make meaningful business practice changes that would prevent it from transferring untimely fees from any Massachusetts consumer account to any debt settlement company.

Handling this case are Assistant Attorneys General Yael Shavit and Mercy Cover and Paralegal Noah Kopf of AG Healey’s Consumer Protection Division, with assistance from Digital Evidence Coordinator Rosa Payano and former Investigator Ciara Tran of AG Healey's Civil Investigations Division.

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