Santander will pay out $5.4 million to more than 450 Massachusetts consumers to settle allegations that it charged excessive interest rates on subprime auto loans, the attorney general’s office said this week.

Under the terms of the assurance of discontinuance, filed Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court, Santander USA Holdings agreed to eliminate interest on certain loans it purchased that allegedly carried excessive interest rates due to the inclusion of gap coverage and to reimburse consumers for the debt they had already paid toward that excessive interest.

Gap insurance is intended to limit the shortfall between the payment on an insurance claim and the amount the borrower owes on the vehicle if the car is totaled. It’s sold by car dealers as an add-on and is often financed as part of the car loan. Healey’s office said that the fees added to these loans in particular meant the effective interest rate exceeded the state cap of 21 percent.

Healey’s office said the consumers who would receive the settlement – amounting to about $11,000 each – are located throughout the state and concentrated in Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Pittsfield and Lowell.

Under the terms of the settlement, Santander will also pay $150,000 to the state and will perform a supervised audit of its existing loan portfolio to ensure that no other consumers were overcharged because of gap fees.