WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is soliciting public feedback on trends in the consumer credit card market and specifically how a 2009 landmark credit card reform law has affected small issuers.
The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act, known as the CARD Act, reduced retroactive interest rate hikes on existing card debt as well as exorbitant fees for late payments and shortened billing cycles.
The Federal Reserve later finalized a set of rules between 2009 and 2011 to implement parts of the law, which amended Regulation Z of the Truth in Lending Act, a statute that aims to protect consumers from predatory practices.
As part of a mandate that requires the CFPB to review rules 10 years after they are enacted, the agency issued a request for information Tuesday to examine how the CARD Act rules have affected both the credit card market and small issuers. The CFPB may decide to revise or rescind some of the regulations as a result of the review, the agency said in a press release.
Specifically, the CFPB is asking for the public to comment on the economic impact of the CARD Act rules on “small entities” and how those effects could be alleviated.
The agency is also asking for input on how issuers have changed their pricing, marketing, underwriting, deferment and forbearance practices; what trends are emerging in the debt settlement industry; and what unfair, deceptive or abusive practices exist in the credit card market.
The CFPB’s review of the credit card market takes place every two years. Although the reviews were not done as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency said in its request for information that it understands that the feedback it receives will reflect the conditions brought on by the pandemic.
Comments will be accepted for 60 days after the request for information is published in the Federal Register.
