We study how consumers interact with financial products and services to help identify potential problems in the marketplace and achieve better outcomes for all. Review our reports and analyses to help inform your decisions, policies, and practices. And, see reports that we periodically prepare about the CFPB.
This Bureau Data Point article describes 2020 mortgage market activity and trends using data reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA).
This report analyzes banking and credit access across eight states in the southern region of the U.S, particularly branch presence and bank account access, and capital access such as mortgage lending.
This report provides a broad look at consumer financial profiles in eight states in the southern region of the U.S., including credit scores, financial distress, medical collections, and other debt categories.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is pleased to present our Semi-Annual Report to Congress for the period beginning April 1, 2022 and ending September 30, 2022.
Providing support to customers is the foundation of relationship banking. To reduce costs, financial institutions are integrating advanced technologies, such as large language models (“LLMs”) and those marketed as “artificial intelligence,” to deploy customer service chatbot. A poorly designed chatbot can lead to customer frustration, reduced trust, and even violations under the law.
Payment apps that allow consumers and businesses to quickly send and send money also often provide the ability for users to store those funds. Funds stored on these platforms often lack deposit insurance coverage and are at risk of loss in the event of financial distress or failure of the entity operating the payment platform.
Older adults, most of whom have health insurance coverage, are among the millions of Americans who experience problems with reporting and collection of inaccurate medical bills.
Overdraft/NSF revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022 alone was approximately $1.5 billion lower than in the fourth quarter of 2019 – a decrease of 48% compared to before the pandemic, suggesting an annual reduction of over $5.5 billion going forward. This decrease suggests average annual savings of more than $150 per household that incurs overdraft or NSF fees; many households have saved much more.
Since late 2021, CFPB has been closely monitoring trends in overdraft/non-sufficient fund (NSF) fee revenue and practices.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published summary of focus groups and interviews with low- and moderate-income consumers about their experiences with overdraft programs.
This report highlights some of the risks to consumers of using financing products such as medical credit cards and installment loans to pay for medical procedures and services. The report provides a background on these products, highlights potential lack of transparency and financial risks to consumers, analyzes data on deferred interest healthcare credit cards, and offers a summary of the terms for a sample of financing products.
This report documents research findings on PACE financing from 2014 through 2020. This is in support of the PACE rulemaking mandated by EGRRCPA. We find that for consumers whose PACE loans are originated, mortgage delinquency rates increase by 2.5 percentage points over a two-year period following PACE origination, compared to those whose applications were only approved. These effects are larger for consumers with lower credit scores and with more expensive loans.
The three nationwide consumer reporting companies removed medical collections under $500 from credit reports in April 2023. We study removals of medical collections from credit reports that occurred between 2012-2020 to shed light on the potential effects of this reporting change. We find associated increases in credit score and credit availability.
The FY 2022 OMWI annual report to Congress provides detailed information about the diversity and inclusion work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from Oct. 1, 2021 through Sept. 30, 2022.
This staff report provides a window into the financial circumstances faced by customers of Southern Bancorp Bank, a CDFI that serves some of the most economically underserved areas in the United States. We explore how account balances and the share of customers with a negative account balance evolved from 2019 to 2022.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau began consumer response operations on July 21, 2011, and became the first federal agency solely focused on consumer financial protection. The Bureau’s Consumer Response team hears directly from consumers about the challenges they face in the marketplace, brings their concerns to the attention of financial institutions, and assists in addressing their complaints.
This report describes the CFPB’s methodology for estimating how many banks will be required to report under the small business lending rule and for producing market-level estimates of associated costs.
This report summarizes the results of several rounds of qualitative message and user testing research related to the small business lending rule’s sample data collection form.
The FY 2022 No FEAR Act annual report for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Formal EEO complaint activity for the CFPB.
The FY 2022 Equal Employment Opportunity status report known as Management Directive 715 (MD-715) for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
The 2022 Financial Literacy Annual Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is required under Section 1013 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
This is the 29th edition of Supervisory Highlights. The findings in this report cover examinations involving fees in the areas of deposits, auto servicing, mortgage servicing, payday and small dollar lending, and student loan servicing completed between July 1, 2022, and February 1, 2023.
This report contains the findings of the Bureau’s voluntary review of the final rule on the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act the Bureau issued in October 2015 (2015 HMDA Final Rule) and related amendments (collectively, the HMDA Rule).
This report explores the consumer financial profiles of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) borrowers using the Bureau’s Making Ends Meet survey and its association with credit bureau data.
Public benefits predominantly flow to families in need or individuals at an insecure time. It is critical that beneficiaries have full and timely access to these funds. This Issue Spotlight examines the challenges that recipients of public benefits encounter in accessing funds through financial products or services.
On January 3, 2019, the Good Accounting Obligation in Government Act (GAO-IG Act) was enacted as Public Law number 115-414. The GAO-IG Act requires agencies to annually submit a report to Congress on the status of open public audit recommendations. This report is published by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection in compliance with that law.
