Credit Cards

What are you going to make with #CFPBdata?

Last summer, we launched our Consumer Complaint Database featuring data about credit card complaints.

Today, based on feedback from the public, we’re expanding it – and increasing the number of complaints from about 19,000 to more than 90,000. Here’s what we’re adding data about:

• Mortgage complaints submitted since we started taking mortgage complaints on December 1st, 2011.
• Complaints about bank accounts and services submitted since we started taking them on March 1st, 2012.
• Private student loan complaints submitted since we started taking them on March 1st, 2012.
• Complaints about other consumer loans (for example, if you got a loan to finance your daughter’s braces) submitted since we started taking them on March 1st, 2012.
• More specificity about the product each complaint is about, where provided. For example, instead of just “mortgage,” you can see if the complaint is about a reverse mortgage or a conventional fixed mortgage, etc.

And we’re not satisfied quite yet – more expansions are coming. In the future, we’ll add even more products and improvements to the user experience.

The best part is: You don’t have to wait for us to build what you’d like to see from the data. We’re releasing this data as an API, as well as in CSV, JSON, PDF, RDF, RSS, XLS, XLSX, and XML – and we’d love to see what you can do with it.

From infographics to iPhone apps, we’ve seen people do amazing things with the credit card complaint data that was available before today.

If you think you’ve found something interesting in the consumer complaint data, we want to hear about it.

We encourage the public, including consumers, analysts, data scientists, civic hackers, and companies that serve consumers, to analyze, augment, and build on the information in the database to develop ways for consumers to use the complaint data or mash it up with other public data sets to reveal potential trends.

Share your work, from visualizations to new tools, by tweeting @CFPB using the hashtag #CFPBdata.

The Consumer Complaint Database is just another example of our support for an open-data agenda. Our Project Catalyst team also will be using this data to support innovation in the consumer finance space.

Scott Pluta is the Assistant Director for the Office of Consumer Response at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

p.s. As an example of what can be done with the data, we gave one of our staff a day to play with it in Microsoft Excel. Here’s what she came up with. Her example only goes to March 22, and as with the database itself, the data hasn’t been normalized, meaning that in many cases apples-to-apples comparisons can’t always be made. For example, companies with more customers could be expected to have more complaints. States with more people, likewise, would be expected to have more complaints.

This post is part of a series for National Consumer Protection Week

We began taking credit card complaints in July 2011, and we now can help with complaints about mortgages, bank accounts and services, student loans, vehicle and other consumer loans, and credit reporting.

How do I submit a complaint?
Submitting a complaint and tracking your status is simple and secure. The fastest way to get started is to go consumerfinance.gov/Complaint. If you need help while you’re online, you can chat with one of our team members on the site.

You can also submit a complaint over the phone by calling us at (855) 411-CFPB (2372), toll free. Our U.S.-based call centers can help you in over 180 languages, and can also take calls from consumers who are deaf, have hearing loss, or have speech disabilities.

What makes an effective complaint?
The best complaints are the ones that explain, clearly and concisely:

• What happened, including key details and documents,
• What you think would be a fair resolution, and
• What you’ve done to try and resolve it.

What happens after I submit?
After you’ve submitted your complaint you can check its status at consumerfinance.gov/Complaint or by calling us at (855) 411-CFPB (2372). We’ll also send you email updates along the way so you know where you are in the process, and what’s next.

After the company responds to your complaint, we’ll email you, and you can log back in to review the response and give us any feedback.

Every complaint helps us in our work to supervise companies, enforce federal consumer financial laws, and write better rules and regulations. You speaking up gives us important insight into the issues you face as a consumer, so thank you!

Learn more about submitting a complaint: consumerfinance.gov/Complaint

Recently we released the 2012 Annual Report to Congress on College Credit Card Agreements, as well as a database where you can read individual agreements. The report shows that the majority of college credit card agreements are between issuers and affiliated organizations, such as fraternities, sororities, alumni associations, or foundations affiliated with or related to an institution of higher education.

Why do you collect this information?

Section 305 of the CARD Act requires that we collect information on agreements between universities (or organizations affiliated with universities) and credit card issuers that provide for the issuance of credit cards to college students as well as alums and other affiliated people. Issuers must submit the terms of any agreements they have with universities as well as data on the number of accounts covered by the agreement that were open at year end, number of new accounts opened in the calendar year, and payments made by the issuer to the university as part of the agreement, among other information. Previously, the Federal Reserve collected this information, and on July 21, 2011, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau assumed this responsibility.

What does the data show?

From 2009-2011, the number of agreements, total number of accounts open at year-end, amount of payments by issuers to the university, and number of new card accounts opened during the year all declined. FIA Card Services, N.A. (“FIA”), a subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation, submitted 633 agreements, which represents nearly 80 percent of all agreements in effect during 2011.

In addition to monitoring college credit card agreements, we are also are monitoring the market for other student financial products. Learn about student aid disbursement cards and how to navigate managing your money for college at consumerfinance.gov/Students.

As a result of today’s order, Discover will pay approximately $200 million in restitution to more than 3.5 million consumers.

How will consumers be refunded?

Anyone affected by this order will automatically receive a credit to their account, or, if they’re no longer a Discover customer, they’ll receive a check in the mail or have any outstanding balance reduced by the amount of the refund.

Consumers don’t need to take any further action to receive their credit or check.

If you have questions about whether you are entitled to a refund, please contact Discover.

As with any time large numbers of consumers get refunds, scammers sometimes pop up. Watch out for anyone who tries to charge you, tries to get you to disclose your personal information, or asks you to cash a check and send a portion to a third party in order to “claim your refund.” It’s a scam. Call us at (855) 411-CFPB.

Since we launched on July 21st 2011, we’ve heard directly from consumers about the challenges they face in the marketplace, brought their concerns to the attention of financial institutions, and helped address their complaints. Accepting, resolving, and analyzing consumer complaints is an integral part of our work.

Periodically, we’ll feature stories from consumers who we have helped, and who have agreed to let the CFPB make their stories public.

Jonna, a 53-year-old legal assistant from Texas, was accruing high fees on her credit card because of a card issuer computer glitch.

The problems started in August 2011 when Jonna says she tried to pay $200 toward her $3,100 credit card debt but a malfunction of the credit card issuer’s website instead caused a $3,100 withdrawal from her bank account. That malfunction resulted in an overdraft charge from her bank and a charge of $25 from the card issuer for a bounced payment.

After repeated phone calls to customer service, the card issuer finally straightened out the amount that Jonna had wanted to pay but accidentally put the $3,100 balance as cash advance charges, which have a higher interest rate than purchases. Interest owed was ratcheting up fast. The fees grew to $345 before the issuer agreed to return the balance to the purchased category.

When Jonna contacted the CFPB in May 2012 she says there was still an erroneous cash advance balance on her card, extra fees were still being charged, and the issuer still had failed to reimburse her for the mistaken interest charged while the balance was in the higher-interest cash advanced category. Within a week after the CFPB got involved, the credit card issuer corrected all their errors. And, although the issuer could not refund Jonna for the insufficient fund charges from her bank, it sent Jonna a gift card for a national retail outlet.

Learn more

To see more about how we handle consumer complaints, read our Consumer Response Snapshot and to see all credit card complaints, visit our consumer complaint database.

Since we launched on July 21st 2011, we’ve heard directly from consumers about the challenges they face in the marketplace, brought their concerns to the attention of financial institutions, and helped address their complaints. Accepting, resolving, and analyzing consumer complaints is an integral part of our work.

This week, we’ll be featuring stories from consumers who we have helped, and who have agreed to let the CFPB make their stories public.

Ronald, a 77-year-old Army veteran and retired businessman from Georgia believed he had paid off his mortgage but found his mortgage servicer said he still owed money.

Ronald, who bought his home in 1979 for $38,000, was blind and had trouble finding the paperwork to prove he owned his home free and clear. So he continued to hand over $100 each month to the lender. After the CFPB got involved at the end of 2011, the bank determined that Ronald had in fact paid off his mortgage in 2007 before the current servicer took over the loan. The bank refunded Ronald’s money at 3 percent interest and sent him a check for $30,000.

Nelda, a 67-year-old data entry clerk from California, received a $2,000 charge on her credit card for purchases she never made.

She says she contacted the card issuer to report the mistake and found out the charges were systematically accrued on one day by someone withdrawing $200 at a time. She told the issuer it was fraud. But she says the issuer said she was still on the hook for the money because it was her card. The charges set off a cascade of bad events for Nelda that lasted nearly a year. Eventually, the debt was sold to a collection agency that took Nelda to court.

After the CFPB got involved, the card issuer accepted that the charges were fraudulent and agreed that Nelda was not responsible.

Learn more

To see more about how we handle consumer complaints, read our Consumer Response Snapshot and to see all credit card complaints, visit our consumer complaint database.