Nuvei to pay $4.85 million to settle FTC case over payment processing for alleged scams

Nuvei has agreed to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that said the Canadian processor handled payments for merchants the agency says were engaged in unlawful practices. For PSPs and acquirers, the useful part is not the headline number; it is the compliance package the FTC wants attached to the settlement.

1. Nuvei agreed to pay $4.85 million to resolve an FTC complaint filed last week. The complaint alleged that the company maintained payment processing accounts for merchants that “Defendants knew or should have known were engaged in unlawful practices.”
2. As part of the settlement filed Friday, Montreal-based Nuvei agreed to screen and monitor its existing and prospective clients, including those in certain merchant categories such as outbound telemarketing. The company also agreed to enhanced screening and investigation of any existing client, with chargeback rates specified in the settlement, according to the FTC.
3. The FTC filed its lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Arizona, and the settlement agreement was submitted the following day. Nuvei and four subsidiaries named as defendants did not admit or deny the allegations.
4. In an emailed statement Tuesday, Nuvei said it supports “the FTC's mission to protect consumers” and is committed to “robust compliance oversight.” The company said it cooperated fully and is committed to transparency with its banking partners, card schemes, and regulators.
5. The FTC said Nuvei violated the FTC Act through its payment processing and facilitated deceptive telemarketing, which also violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The complaint pointed to processing for a purported tech-support company called Reimage, with more than $30 million in payments handled from 2017 to 2023.

Nuvei was also alerted in 2020 by Visa that “Reimage was impersonating Microsoft with fake virus alerts and luring consumers to offshore call centers,” according to the FTC complaint. For high-risk processors, that kind of notice is the moment when a merchant review stops being routine and starts becoming evidence.