FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE        

CONTACT: Lauren Williams – CUNA Communications; (202) 626-7642; lwilliams@cuna.coop      

Washington, D.C. (June 4, 2018) – The request for information (RFI) process continues at the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) and today Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is urging the Bureau to revisit its complaint intake system. CUNA submitted its extensive white paper to the CFPB covering this topic among other suggestions.  

“Even though the number of credit union-related complaints is extremely low, to ensure the complaint intake process is effective, we urge the Bureau to take steps so that the number of non-substantive and meritless complaints does not increase,” CUNA’s white paper reads. “Thus, we urge the Bureau to revisit the complaint intake system’s process of filtering out clearly frivolous consumer complaints.” 

While the online offering of complaints makes the process more efficient for consumers, CUNA argues that it has the potential of increasing unfounded complaints.  

“It is important that the Bureau be aware that each complaint a credit union receives—regardless of merit—has a cost to the credit union and in turn its members,” the letter reads.  

CUNA also urged the bureau to: 

• Take appropriate steps to verify the legitimacy and accuracy, to the extent possible, of a consumer’s complaint and/or compliment prior to public disclosure; 
• Explore improvements to the current system which CUNA believes could make some institutions effectively unable to respond to a narrative description of a complaint due to privacy restrictions; 
• Reexamine its marketing of the complaint system to consumers. Since most credit unions are not supervised by the bureau, any complaints regarding them should be directed to the NCUA. The bureau’s marketing directs consumers to the bureau’s complaint system, which causes confusion and delays in response when those consumers are then redirected to the NCUA and/or the credit union directly. 

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About CUNA    
Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is the only national association that advocates on behalf of all of America’s credit unions, which are owned by 110 million consumer members. CUNA, along with its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, delivers unwavering advocacy, continuous professional growth and operational confidence to protect the best interests of all credit unions. For more information about CUNA, visit cuna.org.