FTC: Cliq Sanctioned $6.5 Million for Contempt After Processing Hundreds of Millions for High-Risk Merchants
On May 19, 2026, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that a federal court in Nevada had ruled on May 13 that payment processor Cliq Inc., formerly Cardflex, and its principals Andrew Phillips and John Blaugrund were in civil contempt of a 2015 court order, imposing a $6.5 million sanction.
The FTC said Cliq processed hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions for merchants placed on Mastercard's MATCH high-risk list, and helped merchants disguise their true chargeback rates with so-called friendly transactions, using name changes and account transfers to evade monitoring. The court found Cliq's underwriting review deficient, including failures to check fake websites and to heed evidence of shell companies, and that merchants exceeding chargeback limits were neither investigated nor reported.
Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, commented on the ruling. The contempt ruling addresses Cliq's violation of the 2015 order and was announced by the FTC on May 19.
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Source: U.S. Federal Trade Commission
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于美国华盛顿的联邦贸易委员会总部 Apex 大楼（资料照片）。Harrison Keely 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Apex Building, headquarters of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. (file photo). Photo by Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
