U.S. District Rules for Cliq in Hearing Regarding Federal Trade Comission Filing

• Ruling affirms that Cliq “takes our responsibility to protect against fraudulent and illegitimate merchant accounts seriously” 
• U.S. District Court rejects FTC’s aggressive theories and requested remedies including proposed ban on executive leadership
• “We were confident that once the facts were heard in an unbiased environment…Cliq would be vindicated.”
  
  

COSTA MESA, Calif., May 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cliq, an innovator in financial technologies, has been absolved by the U.S. District Court from accusations made in a motion, and subsequent media blitz, by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) earlier this year.

“We are gratified that the Court rejected what we always perceived as a massive overreach by the FTC -- efforts to effectively shut down the company by imposing a receiver, banning top executives from any further industry participation and imposing severe eight- or nine-figure financial sanctions,” said Joanna Oliva, President at Cliq.

After more than three years of intensive FTC investigation and litigation which included a full-scale regulatory audit into Cliq’s operations, sponsor-bank relationships, merchant portfolio, underwriting, monitoring, transaction activity, compliance infrastructure, third-party relationships, and historical conduct, Cliq was not found to have engaged in fraud and the Court declined to impose the existential remedies sought by the FTC.

“We are very pleased with today’s complete and thorough ruling, and its impact on our name and reputation in reassuring our partners and stakeholders” said Andy Phillips, CEO at Cliq. “The court’s decision validates our robust compliance program and business practices, as well as our strong commitment to preventing fraudulent and illegitimate merchant activity.”

Phillips added, “We were confident that once the facts were heard in an unbiased environment that did not distort the truth, the FTC’s errant allegations would be dismissed, and Cliq would be vindicated.”

From the outset, Cliq has taken a transparent and proactive approach to addressing the FTC’s concerns. The company repeatedly offered to have the FTC implement independent, on-site monitoring of its compliance systems, at Cliq’s own expense, to provide additional visibility into its operations. The court found it unnecessary to assign a monitor to Cliq and rejected the FTC proposal to ban any executive leaders from the payment processing business.

“We appreciate the court recognizing the depth and significance of the resources we have dedicated to prevent fraudulent merchant activity, and look forward to continuing to work with our valued stakeholders,” said Phillips.

Over the past five years, Cliq has made a consistent investment of many millions of dollars in compliance infrastructure, third-party audits, employee training, enhanced underwriting and additional compliance staffing. In addition to the myriad of external audits Cliq undergoes each year, independent stakeholders have conducted their own reviews since the FTC launched a media campaign in January, against Cliq’s operations.

Cliq’s compliance, underwriting and monitoring systems are mature, documented and aligned with modern network and sponsor-bank expectations. Controls include:

• Merchant and control-person identity verification
• MATCH and adverse-history screening
• Marketing and disclosure review
• Documented underwriting and retention within Cliq’s CRM environment
• Continuous transaction and chargeback monitoring
• Structured escalation and termination protocols

For more information about Cliq, visit cliq.com.

About Cliq:
Cliq is an innovator in financial technologies, dedicated to making it easier for businesses to transact with their customers, clients and employees. With a wide range of payment processing, reporting, dispute management and enterprise solutions, they collaborate closely with resellers, consultants, independent software vendors and clients to turn problems into opportunities. Cliq never stops innovating to build and support business-focused financial technologies that make funds flow better.

Media Contact:
John Christensen
jchristensen@cornerstonecomms.com
(949) 735-0394

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