PHOENIX—CFPB Director Richard Cordray said a final rule on prepaid accounts will be coming “soon,” while a rulemaking process on payday lending will begin “in the coming months.
In remarks made to a meeting of the Consumer Bankers Association here at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge hotel, Cordray stated that the CFPB is examining the transparency and opt-in processes of overdraft fees. “In our ongoing work on a potential overdraft rulemaking, we are giving careful consideration to when and how overdraft fees are charged and how well consumers can anticipate those charges.”
Cordray also defended the bureau’s enforcement actions in his speech Wednesday and explained that the enforcement orders should serve as guidance for compliance officers throughout the marketplace. “If the same problems exist in their day-to-day operations, they should look closely at their processes and clean up whatever is not being handled appropriately,” he said. He said the criticism of this approach as “regulation by enforcement” is “badly misplaced.”
Cordray also told bankers that the Bureau is “pushing” them hard “to become more consumer-focused and consumer-friendly institutions. And when you push back, we welcome your input. We welcome it because we realize that your input can make us a better and more effective agency. Indeed, that is exactly what everyone should want us to be, in order to improve the financial marketplace for all responsible businesses as well as for consumers.”
NAFCU reminded that it has repeatedly urged the Bureau to regard credit unions’ commitment to their members and sound operations before issuing rulemakings on prepaid accounts, payday lending and overdraft services.