CUNA strongly objects to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) classification of a broad range of common financial services fees as “junk fees,” it wrote Monday. CUNA responded to a CFPB request for information (RFI) on fees imposed by financial services providers. 

“The RFI characterizes a broad range of common fees in consumer financial services as so-called “junk fees” that obscure the true cost of financial services,” the letter reads, adding CUNA’s strong objection to this “deceptive language.”

CUNA offered several rebuttals to the assumptions underlying the CFPB’s “blanket criticism” of all fees:

• Credit unions offer services that benefit their members and provide the exact type of relationship banking CFPB Director Rohit Chopra stated he wanted to return to.
• The financial services market is extremely competitive, including regarding fees and to imply consumers are “captive” is simply untrue.
• All the fees highlighted in the RFI are subject to rigorous disclosure requirements from statutes and regulations, including many administered by the CFPB itself, and CUNA notes the CFPB is well aware of these requirements.
• The CFPB is not vested with the authority to police “competitiveness” in the financial services market, as the RFI implies, nor can it establish usury limits or cap fees
• The harm to consumers could be significant should the CFPB move hastily to limit services without fully considering the alternatives available or the potential for unintended consequences.

CUNA also reminded the CFPB—which has recently leveled criticism of overdraft protection programs—consumers often opt into these programs as a convenience and member service.

CUNA also joined several other trade associations in a separate letter on the RFI, noting the RFI fails to consider the CFPB’s own “extensive research and rulemaking” to assess consumers’ understanding of fees.

The joint letter also notes Congress has delegated limited authority to the CFPB to substantively regulate fees, and Congress has not granted the CFPB authority to establish usury limits.