WASHINGTON (3/20/15)--A final policy from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will allow consumers to make their complaints against financial companies public, but could lead to harmful inaccuracies, CUNA believes.

The proposal, which was made final Thursday, sparked numerous concerns from CUNA when it was issued in June 2014, particularly that the complaint database could feature false, exaggerated or inaccurate information.

According to the CFPB, a number of requirements have been put in place to allow for a "clear, fair and transparent" process. These include:

• Consumers must give informed consent to the bureau to tell their story. When consumers submit a complaint through the bureau's website, they have to affirmatively check a consent box to give the bureau permission to publish their narrative;
• teps will be taken by the CFPB to ensure personal information such as names, contact information and account numbers will be removed from narratives;
• Companies will be given the option to select from a set list of structured response options as a public-facing response to address the consumer complaints. Companies will have 180 days after the consumer complaint is routed to them to select the optional, public response. Companies will have the option to address all consumer complaints submitted after this policy announcement, not just those where a consumer consented to publication;
• Consumers can decide at any time to withdraw consent to have their narrative published in the database; and
• Complaints must meet certain criteria to qualify for narrative publication, including that the complaint is submitted through the CFPB website, it is not a duplicate submission and that the consumer has a confirmed relationship with the financial institution.

CUNA's objections to the proposal stemmed from concerns that financial institutions could face "severe reputational harm" by potentially inaccurate information.

According to the CFPB, complaints are listed in the database only after the company responds to the complaint or after it has had the complaint for 15 days, whichever comes first. The bureau will disclose the consumer narrative when the company provides its public-facing response, or after the company has had the complaint for 60 calendar days, whichever comes first.

The bureau also announced Thursday that it is seeking input from the public regarding the potential collection and sharing of information about consumers' positive interactions with financial services providers.