Author Archives: Jeff Sovern

The Hill: 3 big lies bank lobbyists peddle to protect corporate scoundrels

Here.  Excerpt: Big Lie No. 1: Bank lobbyists claim that people recover more in arbitration than in class actions: $32 per person in class actions versus $5,400 per person in arbitration, citing the CFPB’s study.  * * * The very few people who take the time and expense to pursue an individual arbitration — only […]

Morning Consult: Prospects Dim for Senate Vote on CFPB Arbitration Rule This Month

Here. Excerpt: A Senate GOP aide said that supporters of the resolution do not have the votes needed to proceed on the floor, given the absence of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has returned to Arizona to receive medical treatment for brain cancer. A July 28 statement from McCain’s office said he does not plan […]

Poll: Consumers Overwhelmingly Think Their Bank, Credit Card Issuers Treat Them Better Than 10 Years Ago. What’s Changed? Hint: CFPB

by Jeff Sovern Results from WalletHub. Some other findings: More than half think banks and credit bureaus need more regulation while 71% think consumers need more financial protection 92% know CFPB stands for Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and 49% would turn to the CFPB if they had a serious complaint about a bank, compared to 9% […]

Economic Policy Institute Study: Correcting the record: Consumers fare better under class actions than arbitration

by Jeff Sovern Here.   My favorite sentence points out that in an average year, "[a]t least 6,800,000 consumers get cash relief in class actions—compared with just 16 consumers who receive cash relief in arbitration, according to available data." Here is a longer excerpt: Opponents of the rule have suggested that the bureau’s own findings show consumers […]

Is It Just Me, Or Is Hensarling Getting Even Nastier to Cordray?

by Jeff Sovern The Hill reports that Hensarling has demanded an investigation into whether Cordray violated election law.  This follows the Financial Services Committee (chaired by Hensarling) staff report saying the Committee should consider holding Cordray in contempt (a story on the CFPB reply is here). And if you listen to the Committee's hearings during which […]

American Banker: New Wells scandal harms effort to nix CFPB arbitration rule

by Jeff Sovern Last week, Gretchen Morgenson at the Times broke the story of how hundreds of thousands of auto loan borrowers at Wells Fargo had been charged for car insurance they didn't need. Now Kate Berry at the American Banker reports on the arbitration connection: it turns out that many of the contracts provide […]

Biden’s Briefing: Why we need to save the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

by Jeff Sovern Here.  Biden's Briefing is a podcast which  plays "[w]hat Joe wants you to know. Every day, Vice President Joe Biden looks to the news across the nation that's sparking conversation, sharing the articles and opinions that he's reading and might be of interest to you."  For today's episode, he chose the essay […]

Poll Finds Republican Voters Support CFPB, Tougher Financial Rules, Oppose Forced Arbitration,

by Jeff Sovern Republican pollster Robert Carpenter has written Republicans beware: Your voters like tough rules on Wall Street in the Washington Examiner. Excerpt: Republicans do the bidding of Wall Street at their own peril. That is the message of a new poll that I helped conduct around financial reform and consumer protection last month […]

Times: Consumers May Be More Trusting of Ads Than Marketers Think

Here.  The first three paragraphs read: The early results from a recent study that Kent Grayson, a Northwestern University marketing professor, did on consumer skepticism left him feeling a little, well, skeptical. So he ran the trials a few more times. Each time, when participants were asked what they thought of modern advertising techniques, they […]