Consumer Bankers Association Aims to Reverse CFPB’s ‘Radical Pendulum Shift’

The Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) said Monday (Dec. 9) that the incoming Trump administration and new Congress present opportunities to reverse the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) “radical pendulum shift.”

The association said this in a letter dated Monday, addressed to the chairman and the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, and sent ahead of CFPB Director Rohit Chopra’s final semi-annual testimony to Congress, which will be delivered later this week, the CBA said in a Monday press release emailed to PYMNTS.

“Enacting the legislative changes recommended in this letter would help protect against the radical pendulum shift that has taken place in the last three administrations and result in policies that are more measured and durable,” the letter said. “Additionally, the next CFPB Director should rescind the Bureau’s most harmful rules that are undoubtedly making it more difficult and expensive for consumers to access financial services.”

The legislative changes the CBA recommended include withdrawing the CFPB’s overdraft proposed rule, reconsidering bureau’s Dodd-Frank Act Section 1033 final rule, and rescinding the CFPB’s credit card late fees final rule.

The association also suggested conducting a consumer education campaign about how to avoid fraud and scams, ensuring that the CFPB “follows the law” and enacting structural reforms to the bureau to “create more transparency and establish proper checks and balances.”

“CBA stands ready to work with Congress and the CFPB to implement legislative and regulatory improvements to the Bureau for the benefit of consumers, and we appreciate the opportunity to submit this statement for the record,” the letter said. “CBA also looks forward to sharing additional policy recommendations with the new administration and Congress in the coming weeks.”

Chopra will be the witness at a Senate Banking Committee hearing scheduled for Wednesday (Dec. 11) and called “Consumer Protection: Protecting Workers’ Money and Fighting for the Dignity of Work.”

It was reported in October that the CBA launched a campaign to counter what it sees as a negative narrative surrounding so-called “junk fees.”

At a time when the CFPB is poised to expand its crackdown on hidden or excessive financial fees, CBA CEO Lindsey Johnson said banks need to have a voice in the conversation.

“What we don’t want to see repeated is this administration’s campaign against banks,” Johnson said at the time.