[ by Howard Haykin ] The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CPFB), the nation's newest regulator, bagged its first enforcement actions along with its first big payday.  The CFPB and its Director Richard Cordray reached this milestone against Capital One, one of the nation's biggest banks and credit card lenders, which agreed to settle charges that it pressured and misled more than 2 million credit card customers.  The bank will pay $210 million, which includes $140 million in restitution to aggrieved customers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accused Capital One of "deceptive marketing tactics."  The credit card company -- which is known for its catchy television ads, asking "what's in your wallet" -- received a regulatory rebuke for misleading card customers into buying unnecessary products like payment protection and credit monitoring, according to the consumer agency. As part of the deal with the consumer bureau, Capital One must reimburse about $140 million to customers.  In a separate legal action, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks, also sanctioned Capital One for bogus billing practices that spanned nearly a decade. In a statement on Wednesday, Capital One said the wrongdoing occurred at outside call centers that "did not always adhere to company sales scripts."  But the bank's president of credit cards, Ryan Schneider, also acknowledged that the company was "accountable for the actions that vendors take on our behalf." "We apologize to those customers who were impacted and we are committed to making it right," Mr. Schneider said. The case against Capital One could be the first of many actions against lenders that are aggressively ramping up payment-protection insurance programs, consumer advocates say.  The insurance, which promises card holders that the lender will suspend any late charges and minimum payments, has become particularly attractive in the depths of the recession.  While costs vary by card issuer, credit card companies typically charge up to 80 cents for every $100 of debt that is insured, lawyers for consumers said. Banks are pushing into these products, according to industry analysts, in part to recoup billions in lost income resulting from new federal curbs on debit and credit-card fees. The Capital One action was the consumer bureau's first attempt to exercise its enforcement muscle.  Its case also comes on the second anniversary of the bureau's creation, demonstrating the rapid growth of the nascent agency. A centerpiece of the Dodd-Frank regulatory overhaul law passed in the wake of the financial crisis, the bureau is charged with protecting consumers from financial malfeasance.  The agency can write rules for an array of financial products, including credit cards and mortgages, as well as file enforcement actions against banks and the previously unregulated corners of the financial world like payday lenders. In a 30-page order, the consumer bureau outlined how the bank's call centers marketed and sold the products to ineligible unemployed consumers, who despite paying for the services, never received the full benefits.  At some call centers, a vendor working for the bank imposed the products without the consumer's consent.  In other cases, according to the bureau, the bank employed "high pressure tactics," including misleading customers into thinking the product was free, mandatory and would bolster credit scores. Under the deal with regulators, Capital One must halt the deceptive practices and submit to an independent audit. The deal also requires the bank to fully repay its customers who fell victim to the scheme. In a related action on Wednesday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency forced the bank to reimburse customers "harmed by unfair billing practices" that unfolded over a ten-year span, from 2002 to June of last year.  The OCC imposed a $35 million fine against Capital One. Between the restitution to customers and the fines to regulators, the bank will pay $210 million to settle the actions. Capital One has run afoul of regulators before.  The bank, based in McLean, Va., was cited by the OCC in 2010 for imposing "unfair" fees after customers sought to close their accounts. Earlier this year, David M. Louie, Hawaii's attorney general, sued seven major banks, including Capital One, for purportedly targeting elderly cardholders with payment protection plans.  The plans are "virtually worthless," Mr. Louie said. Credit card companies take advantage of consumers by signing them up for the protection without their permission, according to Mr. Louie.  The aggressive practice is particularly egregious, the attorney general's office said, because the banks are pitching the products to their existing customers and have their sensitive card information. "This practice is hardly limited to Capital One," said Richard Golomb, a lawyer in Philadelphia who has brought class action lawsuits against lenders, including Bank of America, Citigroup, Discover Financial, and JPMorgan Chase for credit protection insurance. For further details, go to:  [Dealbook, 7/18/12].