Credit card experiences of consumers, providers sought in review of market

Information about the consumer credit card market – including experiences of consumers and providers, and on the overall health of the credit card market – is being is being sought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as it conducts a mandated review.

In a request for information (RFI) to be published in the Federal Register Thursday, the CFPB noted that the 2009 Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (the CARD Act) requires the bureau to conduct a review of the consumer credit card market, “within the limits of its existing resources available for reporting purposes.”

Comments on the RFI will be due in 90 days following publication in the Register. The order for the RFI was signed Dec. 20 by Director Kathleen (“Kathy”) Kraninger; however, its publication was delayed by the recently ended 35-day partial government shutdown.

“The Bureau wants to be alerted to and understand the information that consumers, credit card issuers, industry analysts, consumer groups, and other interested persons believe is most relevant to the Bureau’s review of the credit card market,” CFPB said, adding that the list of subjects it provided in the RFI “should not be viewed as exhaustive.”

The agency encouraged prospective commenters to address any other aspects of the consumer credit card market that they consider of interest or concern.

Items on the list suggested for comment by CFPB include:

  • Terms of credit card agreements and the practices of credit card issuers;
  • Effectiveness of disclosure of terms, fees, and other expenses of credit card plans;
  • Adequacy of protections against unfair or deceptive acts or practices relating to credit card plans;
  • Safety and soundness of credit card issuers;
  • Use of risk-based pricing for consumer credit cards;
  • Consumer credit card product innovation.