CFPB should recalibrate approach to protect consumers without impeding access

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has the opportunity to transform regulation without hampering consumers’ access to credit and financial products and services, CUNA wrote to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Tuesday. The committee conducted a hearing on their semi-annual report to Congress. 

“Consumers lose when one-size-fits-all rules force credit unions to pull back safe and affordable options from the market, pushing consumers into the arms of entities engaged in the very activity the CFPB’s rules were designed to curtail,” the letter reads. “Under Director Rohit Chopra’s leadership, the Bureau has an opportunity to recalibrate its approach to regulation in a manner that fulfills its consumer protection mission without impeding consumers’ access to credit or safe and affordable financial products and services.” 

The letter also calls for: 

• Use the Bureau’s authority in a manner consistent with the original purpose of the CFPB and the spirit of the Dodd-Frank Act. 

• Appropriately tailor regulations to reduce disruption for community-based financial institutions. 

• Be consistent and transparent during the development and implementation of rulemakings and supervision and enforcement policies. 

• Consult with NCUA during the policymaking process and avoid implementing duplicative or contradictory policies. 

• Provide certainty to regulated entities by adopting clear “rules of the road” and prioritizing internal consistency. 

• Conduct thorough research prior to the adoption of a new rule or policy and base policy decisions on relevant data. 

• Ensure continued access to credit from reputable providers. 

• Encourage and support innovation in the consumer financial services marketplace.