50 States participated “in an approximately $97 million settlement agreement with General Electric Credit Corporation (GECC), which issues dozens of private label credit cards, together with Montgomery Ward Credit Corporation, for alleged unlawful debt collection practices from consumers who declared bankruptcy. The multistate group was led by the state attorneys general in Missouri and California.” Under the settlement, GECC and Montgomery Ward Credit together paid an estimated $70 million to approximately 70,000 consumers nationwide from whom the companies collected invalid debts. In addition, the companies paid the states attorneys general $24.5 million. GECC also paid $3 million into a consumer education trust fund.