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Bank to Pay $1.75 M for Deceptive Practices

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (AP) _ A subsidiary of South Portland payment processing company WEX Inc. must pay a $1.75 million fine for its role in deceiving college students about disbursements of financial aid.

    The Portland Press Herald  reports WEX Bank has also been ordered to pay a share of $31 million in restitution to 900,000 customers. WEX Bank settled with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Wednesday.

    The bank will pay the $31 million jointly with Higher One, a Connecticut company affiliated with WEX Bank that provides disbursement services for students. Higher One must pay a $2.23 million fine for its role.

    FDIC concluded that Higher One's materials omitted facts and certain fees, features and limitations of its ``One Account'' product. WEX Bank approved the materials.

    WEX's corporate spokeswoman didn't return a call.