Federal regulators said Tuesday they will seek roughly $200 million in restitution and civil fines for alleged deceptive marketing practices from two banks and CompuCredit Corp., an Atlanta-based credit card marketer that focuses on higher-risk borrowers.

In a related move, Columbus Bank & Trust, a Georgia bank that was also part of the investigation, settled with the federal agencies, agreeing to pay a $2.4 million fine and to set up a $7.5 million restitution fund.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Federal Trade Commission, which announced the enforcement actions Tuesday afternoon at a press conference in Washington, D.C., said the firms' marketing methods affected hundreds of thousands of customers who could receive restitution in the form of credits to reimburse a portion of fees and penalties they paid.

The restitution "could exceed $200 million if our actions are successful" and could affect "hundreds of thousands of consumers," said Thomas Curry, a member of the FDIC's board of directors.

The enforcement action is part of a broader investigation of subprime lenders by the FTC and the FDIC, which is involved because of its regulatory role over banks that make subprime loans.

Some of CompuCredit's marketing practices were "designed to be unclear," said Curry, to "leave the unsophisticated in a spiral of debt."

A spokesman for CompuCredit called the allegations "untrue and without merit" and said the company will contest the charges.

"We are going to vigorously oppose this," said Bill Marks, the spokesman. He said the FDIC didn't challenge similar practices and marketing materials that CompuCredit used in 2002 when it worked as a contractor to a failed bank, Nextbank, that the FDIC took over as a receiver.

"They contacted us. They were our customer," Marks said of the FDIC. "That doesn't make sense."

The FTC said it filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Atlanta against CompuCredit and Jefferson Capital Systems, a debt-collection subsidiary.

The FDIC said it filed charges in an administrative law court against CompuCredit and two banks, First Bank of Delaware and First Bank & Trust, of Brookings, S.D., that provided Visa and Mastercard accounts marketed by the Atlanta firm. The agency said it is seeking approximately $6.6 million in fines and restitution in the form of credits for excessive fees and charges.

The FDIC and FTC alleged that CompuCredit, working with the three banks, including Columbus-based CB&T, failed to disclose hefty fees and restrictions on subprime credit cards that it marketed to customers with riskier credit profiles.

In one example, the agencies said CompuCredit marketed credit cards with a $300 credit limit, but failed to adequately disclose that customers would be charged up to $185 in up-front fees that immediately reduced their available credit to $115, often leading to additional penalties for exceeding credit limits.

The agencies also alleged that employees at CompuCredit's debt-collection subsidiary, Jefferson Capital Systems, engaged in abusive and oppressive tactics to collect delinquent debts, including obscene language and harassing calls sometimes topping 20 calls a day to some customers.

In a written statement, CompuCredit said its marketing materials meet or exceed federal regulations on required disclosures to credit card customers.

"CompuCredit has always conducted its business on the principle that customers deserve full and fair disclosure of credit card terms and conditions, and that customers deserve professional and courteous service at all times," the company said.

However, this is not the first time CompuCredit has run into trouble with regulators over its dealings with customers. In 2006, CompuCredit agreed to an $11 million settlement with New York's attorney general's office after an investigation of complaints about similar fees on its credit cards issued through CB&T.

In May, CompuCredit disclosed in a filing with the Securities Exchange Commission that it expected to reach a settlement with the agencies that would limit its marketing and debt collection practices.