A two-part review of rules implementing the 2009 law addressing credit card consumer protections, including whether any of those rules should be revised, rescinded or continued without change, is planned by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which is inviting input until Oct. 27.
The bureau is set to have published in the Register a request for information (RFI) on the economic impact on small entities and on how the consumer credit card market is functioning under rules implementing the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD Act).
The first part of the review is required under section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), which requires that certain rules be reviewed within 10 years of their publication and the effect on small businesses considered. The second part is being conducted under section 502(a) of the CARD Act, which relates to the credit card market generally and requires a review every two years.
In reviewing the small-entity impacts of CARD Act rules under section 610, the bureau seeks input on the following:
- the current scale of the economic impacts of the rules as a whole on small entities and of their major components on small entities, including impacts on reporting, recordkeeping, and other compliance requirements;
- whether and how those impacts on small entities could be reduced, consistent with the stated objectives of applicable statutes and the rules;
- current information relevant to the factors that the bureau is required to consider in completing a section 610 review under the RFA, as described above.
As to the credit card market review under section 501(a), the CFPB is seeking input on numerous aspects (see the notice for specifics) regarding:
- the terms of credit card agreements and the practices of credit card issuers;
- the effectiveness of disclosure of terms, fees, and other expenses of credit card plans;
- the adequacy of protections against unfair or deceptive acts or practices relating to credit card plans;
- the cost and availability of consumer credit cards;
- the safety and soundness of credit card issuers;
- the use of risk-based pricing for consumer credit cards;
- consumer credit card product innovation.