Have you heard of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? The CFPB is just getting off the ground and, last week, made a bit of news with its big judgment against Capital One when…
…it ordered Capital One to return $140 million to $150 million to customers over “misleading and deceptive” marketing of credit card add-ons such as credit monitoring and payment protection services. Fox Business News
Now, I will admit, I think of myself as a “small government” guy. You tell me that they have just established a whole new Federal agency, and I get suspicious. In general, though, the CFPB is getting some good press – even from FOX News, if you can believe it.
Here’s a list of CFPB’s early achievements, according to one consumer guru:
- Regulating consumer credit bureaus such as Experian to ensure they keep accurate records and correct errors in a timely manner.
- Expanding consumer protection rules to cover remittance transfers, which millions of Americans use to send money to relatives overseas.
- Setting up a streamlined consumer complaints process accessible online or over the phone and putting those complaints into a searchable public database.
- Creating a user-friendly and attractive website focused on serving consumers rather than the institutions that the CFPB regulates.
So, what do you think? Read the article, and let us know. Is the CFPB a good thing, or more government meddling…or both?