The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it will post a database of consumer complaints received since it began taking consumer credit card complaints online one year ago.
The new database will include not only the name of the company involved, but also the nature of the complaint and the consumer’s Zip code. It will also report whether the firm responded in a timely manner, how the matter was resolved and any disputes.
As might be expected, this practice will raise the ire of the credit card industry.
Banks have opposed the inclusion of specific companies in the complaints, arguing that many could be unfounded or inaccurate. The database will also only include information for the large banks overseen by the CFPB.
“It’s an unlevel playing field,” said Richard Hunt, president of the Consumer Bankers Association, a trade group. “It appears to be a gotcha mentality when it didn’t have to be that way.”
Since its inception, the service has received 17,000 credit card complaints, a number that appears large, but is on a base of some 436 million general purpose credit and charge accounts (approximately one complaint per 25,000 accounts), not including retailer credit cards. On the other hand, as a newly introduced service, consumer awareness is surely still increasing.
By comparison, CFPB has received 19,000 mortgage complaints and 6,500 checking account complaints. Overall, financial service organizations have responded to 89% of complaints across all categories.
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