Don't Delete CFPB
Elon Musk's terrible idea
Elon Musk is wrong.
About a lot of things.
Including, most recently, his tweet about “deleting” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
He and his buddy Vivek Ramaswamy are tasked with making government more efficient. An ostensibly noble mission, sure. But, the two oligarchs have zoomed in on an agency that protects consumers from bad actors in the financial marketplace.
They’d both like to remove regulations from the industries that help them make even more money.
Ramaswamy even suggests the CFPB doesn’t do much to help consumers.
And, well, he’s wrong.
Since its inception, CFPB has returned $19 billion to consumers.
The CFPB does lots of things - but mostly, it holds financial institutions accountable.
Here are some examples of CFPB actions.
Enacting a rule to end “phantom” overdraft charges:
A federal regulator is taking action to protect bank customers from so-called "phantom" overdraft charges - charges that occur without a customer's prior consent.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued clarifying guidance to banks indicating that they must obtain affirmative consent before charging customers overdraft fees.
Fighting for accuracy in credit reports:
The CFPB found consumer reporting companies failed to ensure the accuracy of credit reports, including by failing to exclude information resulting from alleged identity theft or human trafficking. The CFPB also found furnishers – companies that provide information to consumer reporting companies – failed to correct false or fraudulent information sent to consumer reporting companies.
Protecting consumers from the harms of medical debt:
“Research shows that medical bills have little predictive value in credit decisions, yet tens of millions of American households are dealing with medical debt on their credit reports,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “When someone gets sick, they should be able to focus on getting better, rather than fighting debt collectors trying to extort them into paying bills they may not even owe.”
Protecting users of popular payment apps:
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule would subject these popular apps [such as Venmo, PayPal, and CashApp] to the same requirements imposed on banks and credit unions when it comes to fraud prevention, privacy, and deceptive practices. Nonbank digital services act as banks for many consumers and are the primary source of receiving payroll and other payments and paying bills for those customers.
Refunding victims of illegal bank fees:
Navy Federal Credit Union has been ordered to refund $80 million to customers and pay a $15 million fine in the wake of an investigation that found the institution was charging illegal, surprise overdraft fees to customers.
These are just a few examples of the consumer benefits provided by the CFPB.
Deleting it would delete these protections and put consumers at greater risk.