Page 10 - GS150701
P. 10
News
CFPB criticism grows "We have a powerful agency unilaterally regulating
products and industries while subjecting Americans to
an unprecedented invasion of their personal financial
ecent reports about computer hacks of gov- data, and it's clear Americans don't like it," said Brian
ernment databases, notably those run by the Wise, Senior Advisor at the USCC. "They clearly oppose
Internal Revenue Service and the federal Office the agency's activities to invade their privacy, track their
R of Personnel Management, are raising new purchases, and efforts to tell them what products they can
concerns about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and cannot use."
and the security of consumer financial information the Proposed prepaid, payday rules under fire
agency collects to inform its policy making.
The CFPB, controversial from its inception, has come
The CFPB was created as an independent federal consumer under increased criticism with its release of proposed
watchdog under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. That legislation new rules that would come down hard on payday lenders
gave the CFPB sweeping powers to collect all types of and extend many of the consumer protections for credit
transaction-level information from financial institutions and debit cards to prepaid cards. (See "Congressman
and their processing partners in support of its consumer blasts CFPB's prepaid card plan" under Breaking Industry
protection activities. News, www.greensheet.com/breakingnews.php?flag=breaking_
news&id=1563, for more on the CFPB's controversial
At least one processor has already complained about the prepaid card rules.)
resulting workload, and has said it may pass along the
costs to bank clients, according to the American Bankers The Zogby-USCC survey, conducted June 5 to 10, 2015,
Association. In a June 2, 2015, memorandum to state queried 3,604 adult Americans about the agency. Here are
banking associations, the Washington, D.C.-based trade some specific findings:
group urged its state affiliates to work with it to rein in the • 55 percent believe the CFPB's data collection program
CFPB's financial data collection efforts is equal to or worse than the NSA's controversial
monitoring program.
Soon after, Republican lawmakers delivered a stern
rebuke to CFPB Director Richard Cordray concerning the • 80 percent believe the CFPB should not be collecting
agency's data collection efforts. "We are gravely concerned consumers' credit card statements without their
by the CFPB's inability to confirm that the massive knowledge.
amount of data it collects and stores could not be reverse- • 70 percent said the government should not be able to
engineered and traced back to one of our constituents," a tell consumers how to spend money or make other
group of 23 U.S. Senators wrote in a letter to Cordray. "Our financial decisions for them.
constituents have an absolute right to the security of their • 71 percent said it is a consumer's responsibility to
personal information, whether contained in a tax return at
the IRS, personnel records at OPM, or in the bulk data that determine whether to take out loans with unfavorable
terms, provided the terms are presented clearly.
the CFPB is collecting on an ongoing basis."
Those signing the letter included several members of the Wise said the survey – the first ever poll-taking to focus
Senate Banking Committee, which has oversight authority on consumer attitudes toward the CFPB ‒ validates
concerns raised by his group and other detractors of the
for the CFPB.
CFPB. "Americans have spoken loudly for the first time in
Consumers say whoa this survey that they believe this agency is invading their
privacy and restricting their freedom of choice in a way
Results of a consumer poll released June 18 were equally that makes them very uncomfortable," he said.
critical of the CFPB. A majority of U.S. adults contacted
by the polling firm Zogby Analytics said the agency's
data collection efforts were as worrisome as the National Android Pay gains
Security Agency's controversial monitoring program.
That survey, commissioned by the U.S. Consumer pre-launch mojo
Coalition, also revealed significant consumer opposition
to CFPB proposals to rein in nonbank financial services oogle Inc. shared the look of its forthcom-
companies, such as prepaid card and payday loan ing Android Pay app at Google I/O 2015, a
companies. The USCC describes itself as "a grassroots conference for developers held May 28 to 29
consumer advocacy organization." Its website lists two G in San Francisco. In his opening comments,
initiatives: consumer protection regulations and saving Sundar Pichai, Google's Senior Vice President of Products,
the alternative taxi service Uber.
used a picture of cute babies to illustrate the sheer critical
10
CFPB criticism grows "We have a powerful agency unilaterally regulating
products and industries while subjecting Americans to
an unprecedented invasion of their personal financial
ecent reports about computer hacks of gov- data, and it's clear Americans don't like it," said Brian
ernment databases, notably those run by the Wise, Senior Advisor at the USCC. "They clearly oppose
Internal Revenue Service and the federal Office the agency's activities to invade their privacy, track their
R of Personnel Management, are raising new purchases, and efforts to tell them what products they can
concerns about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and cannot use."
and the security of consumer financial information the Proposed prepaid, payday rules under fire
agency collects to inform its policy making.
The CFPB, controversial from its inception, has come
The CFPB was created as an independent federal consumer under increased criticism with its release of proposed
watchdog under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. That legislation new rules that would come down hard on payday lenders
gave the CFPB sweeping powers to collect all types of and extend many of the consumer protections for credit
transaction-level information from financial institutions and debit cards to prepaid cards. (See "Congressman
and their processing partners in support of its consumer blasts CFPB's prepaid card plan" under Breaking Industry
protection activities. News, www.greensheet.com/breakingnews.php?flag=breaking_
news&id=1563, for more on the CFPB's controversial
At least one processor has already complained about the prepaid card rules.)
resulting workload, and has said it may pass along the
costs to bank clients, according to the American Bankers The Zogby-USCC survey, conducted June 5 to 10, 2015,
Association. In a June 2, 2015, memorandum to state queried 3,604 adult Americans about the agency. Here are
banking associations, the Washington, D.C.-based trade some specific findings:
group urged its state affiliates to work with it to rein in the • 55 percent believe the CFPB's data collection program
CFPB's financial data collection efforts is equal to or worse than the NSA's controversial
monitoring program.
Soon after, Republican lawmakers delivered a stern
rebuke to CFPB Director Richard Cordray concerning the • 80 percent believe the CFPB should not be collecting
agency's data collection efforts. "We are gravely concerned consumers' credit card statements without their
by the CFPB's inability to confirm that the massive knowledge.
amount of data it collects and stores could not be reverse- • 70 percent said the government should not be able to
engineered and traced back to one of our constituents," a tell consumers how to spend money or make other
group of 23 U.S. Senators wrote in a letter to Cordray. "Our financial decisions for them.
constituents have an absolute right to the security of their • 71 percent said it is a consumer's responsibility to
personal information, whether contained in a tax return at
the IRS, personnel records at OPM, or in the bulk data that determine whether to take out loans with unfavorable
terms, provided the terms are presented clearly.
the CFPB is collecting on an ongoing basis."
Those signing the letter included several members of the Wise said the survey – the first ever poll-taking to focus
Senate Banking Committee, which has oversight authority on consumer attitudes toward the CFPB ‒ validates
concerns raised by his group and other detractors of the
for the CFPB.
CFPB. "Americans have spoken loudly for the first time in
Consumers say whoa this survey that they believe this agency is invading their
privacy and restricting their freedom of choice in a way
Results of a consumer poll released June 18 were equally that makes them very uncomfortable," he said.
critical of the CFPB. A majority of U.S. adults contacted
by the polling firm Zogby Analytics said the agency's
data collection efforts were as worrisome as the National Android Pay gains
Security Agency's controversial monitoring program.
That survey, commissioned by the U.S. Consumer pre-launch mojo
Coalition, also revealed significant consumer opposition
to CFPB proposals to rein in nonbank financial services oogle Inc. shared the look of its forthcom-
companies, such as prepaid card and payday loan ing Android Pay app at Google I/O 2015, a
companies. The USCC describes itself as "a grassroots conference for developers held May 28 to 29
consumer advocacy organization." Its website lists two G in San Francisco. In his opening comments,
initiatives: consumer protection regulations and saving Sundar Pichai, Google's Senior Vice President of Products,
the alternative taxi service Uber.
used a picture of cute babies to illustrate the sheer critical
10
