A national jewelry chain that owns Kay Jewelers, Jared The Galleria of Jewelry and several other brands will pay $11 million to settle claims that its employees signed customers up for store credit cards without their knowledge or consent, New York Attorney General Letitia James said Wednesday.

The company, Sterling Jewelers Inc., was accused of using information gathered at the time of sale from customers to sign them up for credit accounts and credit insurance, which many did not realize until they were alerted through a credit report or received a physical card in the mail.