[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 21 (Thursday, January 31, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 647-649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-00487]


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BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION

[Docket No. CFPB-2019-0002]


Request for Information Regarding Consumer Credit Card Market

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

ACTION: Notice and request for information.

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SUMMARY: The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure 
Act of 2009 (CARD Act or Act) requires the Bureau of Consumer Financial 
Protection (Bureau) to conduct a review (Review) of the consumer credit 
card market, within the limits of its existing resources available for 
reporting purposes. In connection with conducting that Review, and in 
accordance with the Act, the Bureau is soliciting information from the 
public about a number of aspects of the consumer credit card market as 
described further below.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 1, 2019 to be 
assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: You may submit responsive information and other comments, 
identified by the document title and Docket No. CFPB-2019-0002, by any 
of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Include the 
document title and Docket No. CFPB-2019-0002 in the subject line of the 
message.
     Mail: Comment Intake, Bureau of Consumer Financial 
Protection, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20552.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Comment Intake, Bureau of Consumer 
Financial Protection, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20552.
    Instructions: All submissions should include the agency name and 
docket

[[Page 648]]

number for this proposal. Because paper mail in the Washington, DC area 
and at the Bureau is subject to delay, commenters are encouraged to 
submit comments electronically. In general, all comments received will 
be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov. In addition, 
comments will be available for public inspection and copying at 1700 G 
Street NW, Washington, DC 20552, on official business days between the 
hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time. You can make an appointment 
to inspect the documents by telephoning (202) 435-7275.
    All comments, including attachments and other supporting materials, 
will become part of the public record and subject to public disclosure. 
Sensitive personal information, such as account numbers or Social 
Security numbers, should not be included. Comments generally will not 
be edited to remove any identifying or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wei Zhang, Credit Card Program 
Manager, Division of Research, Markets, and Regulations, at (202) 435-
7700, or [email protected]. If you require this document in an 
alternative electronic format, please contact 
[email protected].

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1616(a), (b).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 502(a) of the CARD Act \1\ requires 
the Bureau to conduct a review, within the limits of its existing 
resources available for reporting purposes, of the consumer credit card 
market every two years. To inform that review, section 502(b) instructs 
the Bureau to seek public comment.\2\
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    \1\ See 15 U.S.C. 1616(a).
    \2\ See 15 U.S.C. 1616(b).
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    The Bureau's first such review was published in October 2013; the 
Bureau's second such review was published in December 2015; the 
Bureau's third such review was published in December 2017.\3\ To inform 
the Bureau's next review, the Bureau hereby invites members of the 
public, including consumers, credit card issuers, industry analysts, 
consumer groups, and other interested persons to submit information and 
other comments relevant to the issues expressly identified in section 2 
below, as well as any information they believe is relevant to a review 
of the credit card market.
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    \3\ CARD Act Report, available at http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201309_cfpb_card-act-report.pdf; The 
Consumer Credit Card Market, available at http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201512_cfpb_report-the-consumer-credit-card-market.pdf; The Consumer Credit Card Market, available at 
https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_consumer-credit-card-market-report_2017.pdf.
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1. Background: The CARD Act

    The CARD Act was signed into law in May 2009.\4\ Passage of the Act 
was expressly intended to ``establish fair and transparent practices 
related to the extension of credit'' in the credit card market.\5\ To 
achieve these agreed-upon purposes, the Act changed the requirements 
applicable to credit card practices in a number of significant 
respects.\6\
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    \4\ The CARD Act's provisions took effect in three stages: 
August 2009, February 2010, and October 2011.
    \5\ Public Law 111-24, 123 Stat. 1734 (2009).
    \6\ See CARD Act Report, pp. 10-13, available at http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201309_cfpb_card-act-report.pdf.
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2. Issues on Which the Bureau Seeks Public Comment for Its Review

    In connection with its pending Review, the Bureau seeks information 
from members of the public about how the credit card market is 
functioning. The Bureau seeks comments on the experiences of consumers 
and providers in the credit card market and on the overall health of 
the credit card market, as outlined in section 502(a) and in (a) 
through (g) below. As noted above, while the Bureau identifies specific 
topics of interest below, the Bureau wants to be alerted to and 
understand the information that consumers, credit card issuers, 
industry analysts, consumer groups, and other interested persons 
believe is most relevant to the Bureau's review of the credit card 
market, so this list of subjects should not be viewed as exhaustive. 
Commenters are encouraged to address any other aspects of the consumer 
credit card market that they consider would be of interest or concern 
to the Bureau.
    Please feel free to comment generally and/or respond to any or all 
of the questions below but please indicate in your comments on which 
topic areas or questions you are commenting:

(a) The Terms of Credit Card Agreements and the Practices of Credit 
Card Issuers

    How have the substantive terms and conditions of credit card 
agreements or the length and complexity of such agreements changed over 
the past two years?
    How have issuers changed their pricing, marketing, underwriting, or 
other practices?
    How are the terms of, and practices related to, major supplementary 
credit card features (such as credit card rewards, deferred interest 
promotions, balances transfers, and cash advances) evolving?
    How have practices related to collecting on delinquent and charged-
off credit card debt changed over the past two years?
    Has the use of electronic communication (e.g., email or SMS) by 
creditors and debt collectors in connection with credit card debt grown 
or otherwise evolved?
    How are the practices of for-profit debt settlement companies 
changing and what trends are occurring in the debt settlement industry? 
How are creditors and non-profit credit counseling agencies responding 
to these changes and trends?

(b) The Effectiveness of Disclosure of Terms, Fees, and Other Expenses 
of Credit Card Plans

    How effective are current disclosures of rates, fees, and other 
cost terms of credit card accounts in conveying to consumers the costs 
of credit card plans?
    What further improvements in disclosure, if any, would benefit 
consumers and what costs would card issuers or others incur in 
providing such disclosures?
    How well are current credit card disclosure rules and practices 
adapted to the digital environment? What adaptations to credit card 
disclosure regimes in the digital environment would better serve 
consumers or reduce industry compliance burden?

(c) The Adequacy of Protections Against Unfair or Deceptive Acts or 
Practices Relating to Credit Card Plans

    What unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices exist in the 
credit card market? How prevalent are these acts and practices and what 
effect do they have? How might any such conduct be prevented and at 
what cost?

(d) The Cost and Availability of Consumer Credit Cards

    How have the cost and availability of consumer credit cards 
(including with respect to non-prime borrowers) changed since the 
Bureau reported on the credit card market in 2017? What is responsible 
for changes (or absence of changes) in cost and availability? Has the 
impact of the CARD Act on cost and availability changed over the past 
two years?
    How, if at all, are the characteristics of consumers with lower 
credit scores changing? How are groups of consumers in different score 
tiers faring in the market? How do other factors relating to consumer 
demographics or financial

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lives affect consumers' ability to successfully obtain and use card 
credit?

(e) The Safety and Soundness of Credit Card Issuers

    How is the credit cycle evolving? What, if any, safety and 
soundness risks are present or growing in this market, and which 
entities are disproportionately affected by these risks? How, if at 
all, do these safety and soundness risks to entities relate to long-
term indebtedness on the part of some consumers, or changes in 
consumers' ability to manage their debts? Has the impact of the CARD 
Act on safety and soundness changed over the past two years?

(f) The Use of Risk-Based Pricing for Consumer Credit Cards

    How has the use of risk-based pricing for consumer credit cards 
changed since the Bureau reported on the credit card market in 2017? 
What has driven those changes or lack of changes? Has the impact of the 
CARD Act on risk-based pricing changed over the past two years?
    How have CARD Act provisions relating to risk-based pricing 
impacted (positively or negatively) the evolution of practices in this 
market?

(g) Consumer Credit Card Product Innovation

    How has credit card product innovation changed since the Bureau 
reported on the credit card market in 2017? What has driven those 
changes or lack of changes? Has the impact of the CARD Act on product 
innovation changed over the past two years?
    How have broader innovations in finance, such as (but not limited 
to) new products and entrants, evolving digital tools, greater 
availability of and new applications for consumer data, and new 
technological tools (like machine learning), impacted the consumer 
credit card market, either directly or indirectly? In what ways do CARD 
Act provisions encourage or discourage innovation? In what ways do 
innovations increase or decrease the impact of certain CARD Act 
provisions, or change the nature of those impacts?

    Dated: December 21, 2018.
Kathleen Kraninger,
Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
[FR Doc. 2019-00487 Filed 1-30-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P