Since 2011, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has cost consumers between $237-$369 billion as financial institutions were forced to pass on their increased compliance and liability expenses to customers, the White House Council of Economic Advisers said in a new report.
The White House report paints the bureau as a costly boondoggle for customers of financial products. It also runs counter to claims made by Democrats and other CFPB defenders who say the bureau has recovered billions of dollars for consumers.
The council’s report concluded that increased borrowing costs amounted to at least $222-$350 billion, or $160-253 per borrower, from the CFPB’s inception in 2011 through 2024. In 2024 alone, the combined annual cost of credit for mortgages, autos and credit cards was between $24-$38 billion.
The council estimated that higher borrowing costs from CFPB policies significantly reduced loan originations, resulting in an economic efficiency loss of between $1.5-$5.7 billion to consumers. In addition, the bureau has cost businesses $21 billion in additional paperwork since its inception.
The CFPB has also been costly for government, according to the report. The bureau has received $8.9 billion in total transfers from the Federal Reserve, when adjusted for inflation. Since those funds would otherwise have been transferred to the U.S. Treasury, the lost revenue results in a marginal excess tax burden of $4.4 billion. Taken together, the fiscal cost of the CFPB since its inception is more than $13 billion.
