Published: October 2018

Consumer advocates oppose loosening rules for FinTech providers

Consumer Action joined a coalition of 50 public interest groups in sharply criticizing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) proposal to gut important consumer protection rules, especially for FinTech companies, arguing the agency does not have the authority to create potentially unlimited exemptions from the very regulations that the CFPB is obligated to enforce.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is exceeding its authority under the law that created the agency and would set a dangerous precedent with its “disclosure sandbox” policy, its label for granting companies exemptions from disclosure rules. Instead of conducting limited, carefully drawn trials of model disclosures that could improve consumer understanding, the CFPB would allow firms to obfuscate or eliminate important information in the name of “financial innovation,” a label that was often applied to defend practices in mortgage lending that led to the 2008 crisis.

Lead Organization

National Consumer Law Center (NCLC)

Other Organizations

Allied Progress | Americans for Financial Reform | Arizona Community Action Association | California Reinvestmemt Coalition | Center for Economic Integrity | Center for Responsible Lending | Change to Win | Consumer Action | Consumer Advocacy & Protection Society (CAPS) | Consumer Federation of America | Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council, Inc. | Demos | Heartland Alliance | National Association of Consumer Advocates | National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low income clients) | National Consumers League | National Fair Housing Alliance | Navigator Collaborative | New Economy Project | People's Action Institute | Public Citizen | Public Good Law Center | Public Justice Center Public Law Center | Reinvestment Partners | St. Vincent de Paul | Texas Appleseed | The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights | Tzedek DC | U.S. PIRG | UnidosUS | Woodstock Institute

More Information

Click here to read the coalition letter.

For more information, please visit NCLC.

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