American Bankers Association President and CEO Rob Nichols today criticized the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau following a new report on “rigged” comparison-shopping results for credit cards and other financial products, saying the bureau’s continuing political rhetoric runs counter to what millions of U.S. cardholders actually experience.
In guidance for law enforcement and other regulators, the CFPB said that comparison-shopper tools that recommend certain products and lenders in return for financial compensation potentially violate the Consumer Financial Protection Act. The bureau also said that lead generators can violate the prohibition on abusive practices if they steer consumers to a participating financial services provider instead of another because they receive payment for doing so. The bureau specifically called out the credit card market, claiming that it “has found evidence of practices that may imply anti-competitive behavior.”
In response, Nichols said the CFPB is falsely suggesting there are problems with one of the most popular consumer credit products in America.
“The bureau’s claim that a market with hundreds of card issuers and thousands of card options and features is not competitive is disconnected from the experience of millions of cardholders across the country,” he said. “American consumers know they have a wide array of credit card options to choose from, including terms that are fully disclosed by law, which allows them to compare offers and select the card that best meets their needs. By every measure, including by the [Department of Justice’s] standard and even in the view of the U.S. Supreme Court, this market is competitive, and saying otherwise as part of a misleading campaign does not change that fact.”
