83 comments received on bureau’s ‘financial education programs’ RFI; one RFI to go

A total of 83 comment letters were received on the consumer financial protection bureau’s request for information (RFI) on its financial education programs as of midnight Monday, the close of the public comment period, according to Regulations.gov, a web-based portal supporting the federal government’s rulemaking process.

Issued April 4 by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP, formerly known as CFPB) with a 90-day public comment period, the RFI sought information from the public to help the bureau assess the overall efficiency and effectiveness of its consumer financial education programs, including its focus on various topics, programs, delivery channels and methods, the use of technology, and the use of the procurement process to support its work.

The “financial education programs” RFI was the 11th of a total of 12 RFIs issued since January in an effort described by agency Acting Director John “Mick” Mulvaney as a “call for evidence” to determine if the agency is fulfilling its job. One RFI, focusing on the bureau’s consumer complaint and inquiry handling processes, remains out for comment until July 16.

The 83 comments received on the “financial education programs” RFI represent just 0.09% of the 87,630 comments received on all 12 of the RFIs. This total is the third-lowest generated on any of the RFIs to date. As of 11:59 p.m. Monday, the RFI on consumer complaint and inquiry handling processes had generated 177 comments, or 0.2% of the total received on all 12 RFIs.

Three information requests that have closed comment periods continue to dominate in terms of public response. Those are the RFIs on: agency supervision programs (with a total of 55,049 comments, or 62.82% of all RFI comments received), public reporting practices of consumer complaint information (with 23,262 comments, or 27% of the total received), and civil investigative demands (with 8,023 comments, or 9.16% of all comments on the 12 RFIs so far).

RFI: Financial Education Programs (via Regulations.gov)