Online bill-payment company Doxo Inc. and two of its co-founders agreed to pay $2.1 million to resolve Federal Trade Commission allegations that they used deceptive search advertising to impersonate consumers’ billers and concealed millions of dollars in fees added to consumer payments.
The stipulated order resolves a 2024 FTC complaint against Doxo, co-founder Steve Shivers and co-founder Roger Parks. The complaint alleged the defendants bought search ads that surfaced when consumers looked up utilities, auto lenders and other companies they owed, then routed those consumers to landing pages displaying the companies’ names and, at times, their logos. Doxo had no relationship with most of the billers it presented as part of its payment network, according to the FTC.
The agency alleged Doxo added undisclosed “delivery fees” to the bills it paid on consumers’ behalf and enrolled customers in a recurring subscription program without adequate disclosure. The company failed to make clear that delivery fees were waived only for certain payment methods and did not clearly disclose the subscription’s price, the FTC said.
“Misleading search text ads thwart consumers’ pursuit of information and undermine the integrity of the marketplace,” said Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement.
The complaint charged violations of the FTC Act, the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. The FTC said a federal court found that Doxo violated ROSCA by failing to disclose subscription terms and to obtain consumers’ consent for subscription charges.
The $2.1 million is designated for consumer redress.
The order bars Doxo, Shivers and Parks from misrepresenting their affiliation with billers, using a biller’s website address in a search advertisement, or deploying a biller’s branded name or logo in a manner that misrepresents affiliation. The defendants are also prohibited from misrepresenting the amount consumers will pay or the nature of any fee, using false representations to obtain financial information, misrepresenting negative-option features including cancellation terms, and charging consumers without express informed consent.
