Yesterday, the CFPB announced that it has reached a settlement of a lawsuit filed in 2020 against Citizens Bank. The agency alleged that the bank failed to properly manage and respond to customers’ credit card disputes and fraud claims. The settlement includes a $9 million civil penalty, and an agreement that the bank will fix […]
Category Archives: Credit Cards
Here. In brief, consumer advocacy groups tend to support the limits while industry advocates tend to oppose them. Not surprising.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week “launched an improved survey of credit card issuers that can help consumers and families compare interest rates and other features when shopping for a new credit card.” The agency explained that the [u]pgrades to the CFPB’s terms of credit card plans survey are designed to increase price competition […]
Almost twenty years ago, various groups of merchants filed antitrust litigation against Visa, Mastercard, and banks that serve as payment-card issuers for those networks, tied to the “interchange fees” charged for each transaction. (In full disclosure, I worked on one of the district court cases over a decade ago. I remember close-to-nothing about the case.) […]
It’s headlined The Dirty Little Secret of Credit Card Rewards Programs, by Chenzi Xu and Jeffrey Reppucci. After referring to a study that found that when rewards go up, so do the fees merchants pay for credit card processing, the op-ed explains: The vast majority of merchants pass these costs on to consumers by charging more for their products […]
Here is the section on consumer protection in President Biden’s speech: My administration is also taking on “junk” fees, those hidden surcharges too many businesses use to make you pay more. For example, we’re making airlines show you the full ticket price upfront and refund your money if your flight is cancelled or delayed. We’ve […]
As Richard and Allison posted, the CFPB has proposed a new rule limiting the credit card late fee safe harbor to $8. And as is perfectly predictable, banks are angry about facing a restriction on late fee revenue. I want to comment on their arguments against the proposed rule. First some background: the Credit CARD […]
In 2016, the CFPB issued a rule requiring certain disclosures for digital wallets and other prepaid accounts. Paypal challenged the rule as contrary to statute, unconstitutional, and arbitrary and capricious. The district court agreed with Paypal that the disclosure rules violated the EFTA ban on mandatory model clauses, and thus did not reach the other […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to cut credit card late fees to $8, wiping out up to $9 billion a year in fees that have become highly profitable for banks and credit card companies. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra plans to propose a rule on Wednesday that would slash late fees from the current $30 […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed today “a rule to curb excessive credit card late fees that cost American families about $12 billion each year. Major credit card issuers continue to profit off late fees that are protected by an expansive immunity provision. Credit card companies have also relied on this provision to hike fees […]

