News

CFPB complaint portal will spread rumors, falsehoods about financial services, FSR fears

The Financial Services Roundtable has expressed deep concern about a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plan to post unverified, anonymous complaint narratives on a government Web site.

August 21, 2014

Recently the CFPB opened its online complaint portal, a Web page where disaffected consumers can share their gripes about financial services providers. One group, the Financial Services Roundtable, has expressed deep concern about the posting of unverified, anonymous complaint narratives on a government Web site, where consumers assume that all information provided is factual. 

To highlight "dangerous elements of the agency’s plan," the FSR, a trade group that represents banks, insurance companies, credit card issuers and other financial services firms, has launched the website CFPBRumors.com to publicize its concerns.

The organization also has released the following statement regarding the CFPB’s online complaint portal:

The financial services industry welcomes sunlight on its customer services and products and is now more transparent than ever. Nearly every company in the industry engages with customers extensively on highly trafficked, publically available social media forums. Some companies also engage in direct dialogue with consumers on their own websites. But the CFPB’s plan to host, and essentially endorse, unverified complaints on a government website—a place where consumers should be going to get only facts—is not helpful for consumers.

The CFPB also states that posting these unverified narratives will help enforcement. The CFPB is already receiving these narratives and is resolving complaints with companies, so posting these unverified claims will do nothing to further enforcement actions. The financial industry has maintained a strong working relationship with the CFPB and is clearly meeting the need.

This new proposal will be a disservice to consumers who expect to get factual information from an agency that was created to help consumers. The CFPB, and all federal regulators, should consider how they can be more transparent and not rush this proposal without full debate. Again, rumors don’t equal facts.
The agency also has not mapped out exactly how it will treat the posting of unverified complaints, and how that may provide false information to consumers and harm employers.

FSR encourages the CFPB to ensure that consumers benefit from clear, factual information from the government, and that the agency does not misuse a government website by posting unverified information. The financial services industry continues to welcome the complaints, comments and concerns of their customers, and remains deeply committed to the strength and security of the nation’s economy.

FSR’s Senior Director of Consumer Financial Services and President of ITAC, Anne Wallace, has posted a blog to highlight some of the concerns consumers should have with the CFPB’s proposed complaint portal.

To learn more about how the the FSR believes CFPB’s proposal could harm consumers, visit CFPBrumors.com