Thursday, September 26, 2013

Latest Consumer Bureau Issue Is Credit Card Hotline

By Cornelius Nunev


The brouhaha over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has only gotten worse in recent weeks. The latest log on the fire is the credit card hotline which the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is supposed to be opening soon. The hotline would take grievances and other data directly from customers. The agency would compile the data and decide to act when appropriate. Banks and charge card issuers are concerned with information be-ing inaccurate and not getting used in the correct manner. This would help keep all cash advance data private.

More penalties put on banks and card corporations

The latest issue of contention regarding the beleaguered Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a charge card hotline that would be used to get com-plaints about credit card issuers from customers, according to Daily Finance. The hotline would be so consumers can report any abuse that takes place. Then the Bureau would give that data to states to use. The grievances would come from crowdsourc-ing. The customers would file the grievances themselves. Card issuers could easily get fines from government officials without even considering what the grievances are about. Bloomberg reports that card issuers and banks are trying to keep a private database so that only the few people that need to be involved will be.

Ways to stop information from flowing

Information needs to be private for banks. The flow of raw data can hurt a bank's image quite a bit. Right now, the complaint line will start with the CFPB. This is anticipated to take place on July 21. The line is set up so the data can be seen by anybody who wants to see it. That means complaint data can effortlessly be accessed. It is true that bank and card issuers may not want the information out so nobody knows what is really going on. It is also significant to consider many people will always com-plain about fees, regardless how reasonable they are. A way to get data straight from the public is certainly admirable, however without restraint it can very easily be used inappropriately.

What the future holds

Almost every part of customer finance, including debit and charge cards, mortgages and payday loans, will be monitored by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. One organization with all that control has started debate. Congress has fought about this continuously. Reuters states that there were three bills introduced to limit the bureau recently including two on the director. With one bill, a director would be required before the CFPB could get to work. Another would make it so a five member panel would replace the one director. Congressional Republicans have made it clear they are not in favor of Elizabeth Warren, the adviser to the White House who is assisting in getting the bureau ready for operation. It does not seem likely that it will begin operations in July as sched-uled.




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