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CBA's Public Policy Issues
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CFPB Resource Center
On July 21, 2011, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency with unprecedented power and authority to regulate the market for consumer financial products, opened its doors for business.
Because of our focus and expertise on retail banking products and services, CBA is well positioned to be your industry resource on the CFPB and will regularly update this page as the rulemaking process unfolds. In addition, our insights and analysis on CFPB-related issues, along with the latest news and information, will provide you with the necessary tools to navigate this new regulatory environment, so please visit often.
CFPB Report
June 14, 2013
CFPB Releases Initial Findings on Overdraft and Non-sufficient Funds
On Tuesday, June 11, 2013, the CFPB released a report entitled “CFPB Study of Overdraft programs – A white paper of initial data findings.”
As referenced in the white paper, the CFPB intends to refine its
inquiry in to overdraft services based on the findings in this first
report. A follow up report is expected in late 2013/early 2014 and we
expect the agency to consider regulatory action at that time.
“Today’s
study represents our first effort to ground discussion around
[overdraft] issues in the actual facts and data of the marketplace,”
Director Cordray said in prepared remarks.
"We are a data-driven agency, and we will continue to examine this
subject carefully before taking action through a transparent policy
process."
In the current report, the CFPB does not single out
any explicit course of action and has observed overdrafts can provide
consumers with needed access to funds. According to the CFPB, nothing in
the report should imply that financial institutions should be precluded
from offering overdraft services. However, the agency has stated
current “practices and procedures merit further analysis to determine
whether they are causing the kind of consumer harm that the federal
consumer protection laws are designed to prevent.”
The agency identifies significant “concerns” we believe are precursors to possible future regulation, including:
- Overdraft
(OD) fees represent a sizeable portion of revenue generated by consumer
checking accounts, and a small but significant segment of consumers at
the banks incur a large number of overdraft and non-sufficient fund
(NSF) fees.
- The cost per incidence of OD/NSF remains a theme
throughout the report and may signal further inquiry on reasonable or
proportional costs.
- Overly complex account posting regimes lead
to customer confusion over the assessment of OD/NSF. We believe posting
order remains a critical point of contention for the agency and believe
more uniform standards for posting and possible OD/NSF frequency limits
will be pursued.
- The report seems to tie the frequency of
involuntary account closures to overdraft practices, possibly suggesting
that consumers may be harmed by opting in, where doing so increases the
risk of account closure and future difficulty obtaining checking
accounts at other institutions.
- Consumer experience (frequency
of opt in, proportion of heavy overdrafters, involuntary account closure
rates, etc.) varies widely at different institutions, and the report
suggests the possibility of these difference being due to varying
practices and policies at institutions, which may not be fully
understood by consumers. As the report concludes, “All of this raises
questions about the degree to which even the most sophisticated consumer
could readily anticipate and manage the cost of engaging in a series of
transactions at one institution or compare the cost of overdrafting at
different institutions.”
CFPB will now undertake a more
rigorous study of account-level data to determine the consumer
experience and examine how these policies and practices affect risk and
cost to consumers. A CBA report summary may be found here.
CFPB Announces Mortgage Rule Implementation Webpage
The CFPB announced a new Regulatory Implementation webpage
on Thursday, June 13, 2013. The page consolidates the 2013 mortgage
rules and related implementation materials, including: mortgage rules at
a glance; small entity compliance guides; videos; quick reference
charts; 2013 rural or underserved counties list; and other helpful
materials. In an email announcing the webpage the CFPB said, “Our goal
with this page is to provide access to our mortgage-related
implementation resources though a single webpage that makes the rule
content more accessible for a broad array of industry constituents,
especially smaller businesses with limited legal and compliance staff.”
Past Reports
June 14, 2013
June 7, 2013
May 31, 2013
May 24, 2013
May 17, 2013
May 10, 2013
May 3, 2013
April 26, 2013
April 19, 2013
April 12, 2013
April 5, 2013
March 29, 2013
March 22, 2013
March 15, 2013
March 8, 2013
March 1, 2013
February 22, 2013
February 15, 2013
February 8, 2013
February 1, 2013
January 25, 2013
January 18, 2013
January 11, 2013
January 4, 2013
December 14, 2012
December 7, 2012
November 30, 2012
November 16, 2012
November 9, 2012
November 2, 2012
October 26, 2012
October 19, 2012
October 12, 2012
October 5, 2012
September 28, 2012
September 21, 2012
September 14, 2012
September 7, 2012
August 31, 2012
August 24, 2012
August 17, 2012
August 10, 2012
August 3, 2012
July 27, 2012
July 20, 2012
July 13, 2012
June 29, 2012
June 22, 2012
June 15, 2012
June 8, 2012
June 1, 2012
May 25, 2012
May 18, 2012
May 11, 2012
May 4, 2012
April 27, 2012
April 20, 2012
April 13, 2012
April 6, 2012
March 30, 2012
March 9, 2012
March 2, 2012
February 24, 2012
February 21, 2012
February 13, 2012
February 3, 2012
February 2, 2012
January 19, 2012
January 13, 2012
January 6, 2012 |
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