By Jim Donovan: Six million Discover, American Express and Capital One customers are getting refunds. Are you one of them?

The three credit card companies are paying back customers a total of $435 million because of a crackdown on deceptive credit card practices. While I reported on the settlement a few months ago after it was announced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the payments are now going out.

Capital One will pay out $150 million in the new year. It was accused of tricking customers into buying additional products, like credit monitoring, when customers opened credit card accounts.

It’s a similar story for Discover, which is paying $200 million. Discover will issue refunds next year.

American Express started doling out the $85 million it owes back in October, that after the CFPB found that American Express subsidiaries illegally charged higher late fees and mislead customers by promising cash rewards for signing up with their “Blue Sky” credit card program and those rewards never came.

In all three cases, customers don’t need to do anything. Just keep an eye on your monthly statements. For current cardholders the refund will show up as a credit on the account. Former customers will get checks in the mail.

If you think you should get a refund but haven’t, check with the card issuer first, then try the CFPB. Here is the link:
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/