Business Briefs: GE to refund credit payments

GE to refund credit payments

General Electric Co.'s credit card division will refund $34.1 million to consumers who government regulators say were misled about the potential costs of relying on a deferred-interest plan to pay their medical bills.

The settlement announced Tuesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau affects about 1 million people who obtained CareCredit cards from GE Capital Retail Bank since 2009. GE Capital didn't acknowledge any wrongdoing in consenting to the order.

Regulators contend that the GE Capital Retail Bank exploited consumers by not taking adequate steps to ensure they understood the terms of the credit cards that they obtained to help cover the costs at doctors and dentists around the country.


Fisker sale moves ahead

A judge gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a plan to sell failed electric vehicle maker Fisker Automotive, despite expressing concerns that the company's bankruptcy case was moving too rapidly.

Fisker, which had planned to build cars at a former General Motors plant in Delaware, filed for bankruptcy protection last month, ending a long, downward spiral that began after it received a $529 million loan commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Hybrid Technology LLC, owned by Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li, is seeking to buy Fisker in bankruptcy after paying $25 million for DOE's outstanding loan, resulting in a loss to federal taxpayers of $139 million.

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