On January 30, the New York State Attorney General announced a settlement requiring a reloadable debit card and payroll card company to pay over $1 million in connection with its operation of a paycheck advance program. This program allowed workers to receive payments that supposedly represented advances on future wages. The investigation found the company violated consumer protection laws and harmed predominately low-income consumers and those who receive benefits like Social Security and veterans benefits by: (i) freezing customers’ accounts and turning over protected funds to debt collectors, which violates New York State’s Exempt Income Protection Act; (ii) charging consumers fees that amounted to effective interest rates that substantially exceeded the state’s usury and wage assignment limits; and (iii) charging its payroll card customers a wide range of illegal fees after those fees were banned in New York, including fees for inquiring about an account balance at ATMs, fees for attempting transactions at ATMs that were declined, and foreign exchange fees. As a result, the company will make restitution totaling $735,669.78 to affected consumers, pay $357,775 in penalties and costs to New York State, and effectuate changes to its internal controls to ensure full compliance with New York State law.