[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 21 (Thursday, January 31, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 647-649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-00487]
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BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION
[Docket No. CFPB-2019-0002]
Request for Information Regarding Consumer Credit Card Market
AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
ACTION: Notice and request for information.
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SUMMARY: The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure
Act of 2009 (CARD Act or Act) requires the Bureau of Consumer Financial
Protection (Bureau) to conduct a review (Review) of the consumer credit
card market, within the limits of its existing resources available for
reporting purposes. In connection with conducting that Review, and in
accordance with the Act, the Bureau is soliciting information from the
public about a number of aspects of the consumer credit card market as
described further below.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 1, 2019 to be
assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: You may submit responsive information and other comments,
identified by the document title and Docket No. CFPB-2019-0002, by any
of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Email: [email protected]. Include the
document title and Docket No. CFPB-2019-0002 in the subject line of the
message.
Mail: Comment Intake, Bureau of Consumer Financial
Protection, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20552.
Hand Delivery/Courier: Comment Intake, Bureau of Consumer
Financial Protection, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20552.
Instructions: All submissions should include the agency name and
docket
[[Page 648]]
number for this proposal. Because paper mail in the Washington, DC area
and at the Bureau is subject to delay, commenters are encouraged to
submit comments electronically. In general, all comments received will
be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov. In addition,
comments will be available for public inspection and copying at 1700 G
Street NW, Washington, DC 20552, on official business days between the
hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time. You can make an appointment
to inspect the documents by telephoning (202) 435-7275.
All comments, including attachments and other supporting materials,
will become part of the public record and subject to public disclosure.
Sensitive personal information, such as account numbers or Social
Security numbers, should not be included. Comments generally will not
be edited to remove any identifying or contact information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wei Zhang, Credit Card Program
Manager, Division of Research, Markets, and Regulations, at (202) 435-
7700, or [email protected]. If you require this document in an
alternative electronic format, please contact
[email protected].
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1616(a), (b).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 502(a) of the CARD Act \1\ requires
the Bureau to conduct a review, within the limits of its existing
resources available for reporting purposes, of the consumer credit card
market every two years. To inform that review, section 502(b) instructs
the Bureau to seek public comment.\2\
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\1\ See 15 U.S.C. 1616(a).
\2\ See 15 U.S.C. 1616(b).
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The Bureau's first such review was published in October 2013; the
Bureau's second such review was published in December 2015; the
Bureau's third such review was published in December 2017.\3\ To inform
the Bureau's next review, the Bureau hereby invites members of the
public, including consumers, credit card issuers, industry analysts,
consumer groups, and other interested persons to submit information and
other comments relevant to the issues expressly identified in section 2
below, as well as any information they believe is relevant to a review
of the credit card market.
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\3\ CARD Act Report, available at http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201309_cfpb_card-act-report.pdf; The
Consumer Credit Card Market, available at http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201512_cfpb_report-the-consumer-credit-card-market.pdf; The Consumer Credit Card Market, available at
https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_consumer-credit-card-market-report_2017.pdf.
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1. Background: The CARD Act
The CARD Act was signed into law in May 2009.\4\ Passage of the Act
was expressly intended to ``establish fair and transparent practices
related to the extension of credit'' in the credit card market.\5\ To
achieve these agreed-upon purposes, the Act changed the requirements
applicable to credit card practices in a number of significant
respects.\6\
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\4\ The CARD Act's provisions took effect in three stages:
August 2009, February 2010, and October 2011.
\5\ Public Law 111-24, 123 Stat. 1734 (2009).
\6\ See CARD Act Report, pp. 10-13, available at http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201309_cfpb_card-act-report.pdf.
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2. Issues on Which the Bureau Seeks Public Comment for Its Review
In connection with its pending Review, the Bureau seeks information
from members of the public about how the credit card market is
functioning. The Bureau seeks comments on the experiences of consumers
and providers in the credit card market and on the overall health of
the credit card market, as outlined in section 502(a) and in (a)
through (g) below. As noted above, while the Bureau identifies specific
topics of interest below, the Bureau wants to be alerted to and
understand the information that consumers, credit card issuers,
industry analysts, consumer groups, and other interested persons
believe is most relevant to the Bureau's review of the credit card
market, so this list of subjects should not be viewed as exhaustive.
Commenters are encouraged to address any other aspects of the consumer
credit card market that they consider would be of interest or concern
to the Bureau.
Please feel free to comment generally and/or respond to any or all
of the questions below but please indicate in your comments on which
topic areas or questions you are commenting:
(a) The Terms of Credit Card Agreements and the Practices of Credit
Card Issuers
How have the substantive terms and conditions of credit card
agreements or the length and complexity of such agreements changed over
the past two years?
How have issuers changed their pricing, marketing, underwriting, or
other practices?
How are the terms of, and practices related to, major supplementary
credit card features (such as credit card rewards, deferred interest
promotions, balances transfers, and cash advances) evolving?
How have practices related to collecting on delinquent and charged-
off credit card debt changed over the past two years?
Has the use of electronic communication (e.g., email or SMS) by
creditors and debt collectors in connection with credit card debt grown
or otherwise evolved?
How are the practices of for-profit debt settlement companies
changing and what trends are occurring in the debt settlement industry?
How are creditors and non-profit credit counseling agencies responding
to these changes and trends?
(b) The Effectiveness of Disclosure of Terms, Fees, and Other Expenses
of Credit Card Plans
How effective are current disclosures of rates, fees, and other
cost terms of credit card accounts in conveying to consumers the costs
of credit card plans?
What further improvements in disclosure, if any, would benefit
consumers and what costs would card issuers or others incur in
providing such disclosures?
How well are current credit card disclosure rules and practices
adapted to the digital environment? What adaptations to credit card
disclosure regimes in the digital environment would better serve
consumers or reduce industry compliance burden?
(c) The Adequacy of Protections Against Unfair or Deceptive Acts or
Practices Relating to Credit Card Plans
What unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices exist in the
credit card market? How prevalent are these acts and practices and what
effect do they have? How might any such conduct be prevented and at
what cost?
(d) The Cost and Availability of Consumer Credit Cards
How have the cost and availability of consumer credit cards
(including with respect to non-prime borrowers) changed since the
Bureau reported on the credit card market in 2017? What is responsible
for changes (or absence of changes) in cost and availability? Has the
impact of the CARD Act on cost and availability changed over the past
two years?
How, if at all, are the characteristics of consumers with lower
credit scores changing? How are groups of consumers in different score
tiers faring in the market? How do other factors relating to consumer
demographics or financial
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lives affect consumers' ability to successfully obtain and use card
credit?
(e) The Safety and Soundness of Credit Card Issuers
How is the credit cycle evolving? What, if any, safety and
soundness risks are present or growing in this market, and which
entities are disproportionately affected by these risks? How, if at
all, do these safety and soundness risks to entities relate to long-
term indebtedness on the part of some consumers, or changes in
consumers' ability to manage their debts? Has the impact of the CARD
Act on safety and soundness changed over the past two years?
(f) The Use of Risk-Based Pricing for Consumer Credit Cards
How has the use of risk-based pricing for consumer credit cards
changed since the Bureau reported on the credit card market in 2017?
What has driven those changes or lack of changes? Has the impact of the
CARD Act on risk-based pricing changed over the past two years?
How have CARD Act provisions relating to risk-based pricing
impacted (positively or negatively) the evolution of practices in this
market?
(g) Consumer Credit Card Product Innovation
How has credit card product innovation changed since the Bureau
reported on the credit card market in 2017? What has driven those
changes or lack of changes? Has the impact of the CARD Act on product
innovation changed over the past two years?
How have broader innovations in finance, such as (but not limited
to) new products and entrants, evolving digital tools, greater
availability of and new applications for consumer data, and new
technological tools (like machine learning), impacted the consumer
credit card market, either directly or indirectly? In what ways do CARD
Act provisions encourage or discourage innovation? In what ways do
innovations increase or decrease the impact of certain CARD Act
provisions, or change the nature of those impacts?
Dated: December 21, 2018.
Kathleen Kraninger,
Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
[FR Doc. 2019-00487 Filed 1-30-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P