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Many people struggle to understand consumer financial products and services. These struggles can be compounded by language barriers, and can make some populations prime targets for exploitation. Recognizing these challenges, we wanted to provide our Spanish-speaking audience with access to clear, unbiased information about financial products and services.

Therefore, today we are unveiling consumerfinance.gov/es.

On consumerfinance.gov/es, you can find answers, in plain-language Spanish, to consumers’ most common questions. It’s also our first responsive site – it works beautifully on mobile devices as well as on desktops – in response to research that shows two-thirds of Latinos who are online tend to access the Internet from a mobile device. And this is just the beginning – we want to continue to expand to include more resources and tools in languages other than English so that we can reach as many people as effectively as possible.

In all of our efforts, hearing from the public is critical in assessing how best to use our tools to improve the workings of consumer financial markets.

We take complaints in Spanish, as well as more than 180 other languages, over the telephone, at 855-411-CFPB (2372). We want everyone, regardless of which language they speak, to know that they have a place to turn when they have a problem with a consumer financial product or service.

The customer may not always be right, but the customer always deserves to have someone who will take the time to listen and, where justified and appropriate, do something about it.

 

Are you a highly-motivated law student looking for an externship this fall? Are you looking for the chance to do exciting work at a fast-paced 21st century agency? Do you have the desire to impact the lives of everyday American families? If so, we have just the opportunity for you!

What will you do?
As a student volunteer with our Enforcement team, you’ll work directly with a seasoned attorney to assist in a variety of projects including legal research and drafting memoranda and pleadings. You’ll directly impact our overall mission through participation in federal or administrative investigation and litigation involving consumer financial laws. Although the externship is unpaid, you will be able to apply classroom lessons to the real world, and build a network of professionals that can mentor you throughout your career.

Who are we looking for?
If you have a relentless commitment to professional and organizational excellence, have a strong academic record, are a strong writer, and can juggle tasks and aptly prioritize in a fast-paced environment, you could be a valuable asset to our enforcement team.

You need to be available at least 15 hours per week between August and December 2013.

Applications are due no later than May 15 at midnight and will be considered on a rolling basis.

And now, for all you law students… the fine print:
This position is unpaid. Student volunteers must be able to obtain academic credit with the permission of the student volunteer’s law school.

To apply for the externship, send a cover letter, resume, list of three references, writing sample, and unofficial law school transcript to:

Student Volunteer Coordinator
Office of Enforcement
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
enfinterns@cfpb.gov
Please include “Fall 2013 Externship” in your subject line.
Application deadline is May 15th, 2013

Did you know that there are now dating websites where potential partners provide their credit score for you to check out? People know it’s important to have good credit. But, there’s still a lot of confusion about how to actually build and keep a good credit report.

First of all, what is a credit report?

In a nutshell, it’s a report that looks at some of your bill-paying history, your applications for credit, and public-record information about you like bankruptcies, liens, and foreclosures.

Credit-reporting companies (the big three are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) collect this information, organize it into reports, and sell the reports to businesses so they can make decisions about whether to lend to you, and at what rate. Businesses believe that how you’ve handled credit in the past predicts how you will handle credit in the future – and how risky it would be to take you on as a customer.

Based on your credit reports, you will be given a credit score by the credit-reporting companies. You don’t just have one credit score – each company does their own. And there can be other scores, too; the ones businesses use most are calculated for each of your credit reports using formulas from the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO.) Lenders use these scores as a quick and convenient way to decide whether or not to do business with you, or on what terms. A low credit score can lead to things like your being turned down when you want to rent an apartment, paying a bigger deposit for a cell phone contract, or being charged a higher rate of interest for a car loan or credit card.

Don’t forget that credit reports are also sometimes used by employers to decide whether or not they want to hire you. And, the military looks at credit reports when deciding if you’re eligible to get or keep a security clearance.

So, what builds good credit?

• Pay your bills on time, every time. An automatic payment from your bank can be a good way to do that, but make sure you keep an eye on your balance so you always have enough in your account to cover the payment. You don’t want it to bounce.

• Don’t get too close to your credit limit. Credit scoring models look at how close you are to being “maxed out” on credit cards. If you use too much of your total credit lines, say by carrying big balances, you can hurt your credit score. Experts advise keeping your use of credit at no more than 30% of your total credit limit – some even say you should keep it at less than 10%.

• Don’t apply for too much credit in a short time. Your credit score may go down if you apply for or open a lot of new accounts in a short time. Buying something and want the discount that comes with opening a new store card? Transferring balances from an old card to a new one? Do that very often and it will show up on your credit report as lots of new credit accounts, which is likely to hurt your credit score.

• The more extensive your credit history, the better. Credit scores are partly based on experience over time. The more evidence you have on how you get and pay for credit, the more information there is to determine whether you are a good credit risk.

Here are some more ideas:

• Buying things with a debit card or cash will not build your credit score. Some people are afraid of getting into trouble with credit cards, so they vow never to have one. The problem is, buying things with cash or using a debit card doesn’t establish a credit repayment history that will be reported to a credit-reporting company. So when you do need a loan for a big-ticket item like a car or home, you won’t have the credit file to make a lender willing to take a chance on you.

• Pay with a credit card to build credit but try not to carry a balance and make sure you pay your bill on time. You’ll build credit by using your credit card even if you pay off your balances in full each month. And, you’ll avoid finance charges since these only kick in when you carry over a balance from month to month, which is what happens when you pay only the minimum amount due or any other amount less than the full balance owed each month.

• If you can’t qualify for a regular credit card, a “secured card account” that you put a deposit on can build credit, too. You can get a secured card from many banks or credit unions. With most of these cards your credit line starts out small, but as you demonstrate reliable payments, most companies will extend you more credit and eventually refund your deposit. Secured cards can be expensive and often come with a number of different fees, though, so before you resort to a secured card consider applying to see if you can be approved for a regular credit card with attractive features and pricing.

• File an “active-duty alert” with the credit-reporting companies before you go on deployment. This makes businesses verify your identity before they issue credit in your name and should help protect you from identity theft. If you want to go even farther, you can freeze your credit. A freeze prevents prospective creditors from accessing your credit file at all, which will keep any new accounts from being opened in your name. There may be a small charge to set up a freeze, unless you are a victim of identity theft. If you decide to freeze your credit, you’ll have to set up the freezes separately with each of the three big credit-reporting companies: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian.

• Keep an eye on your credit reports. You can get a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit-reporting companies every year at www.annualcreditreport.com. There’s a chance you may find incorrect information that is bringing your score down. If you do, file a dispute with the credit-reporting company.

For more information about credit reports and credit scores visit Ask CFPB at www.consumerfinance.gov/askcfpb.

You might be surprised to learn that April 23rd is “Teach Children to Save” Day. Yes, there seems to be a special day dedicated to just about everything. But, compared to celebrations like “Talk Like a Pirate Day,” teaching your kids to become savvy savers can instill lifelong positive financial habits in them and be much less embarrassing for you.

So, let’s lay the most important card on the table first: Kids need to be taught to save. Like washing their hands or brushing their teeth, good savings habits are learned through repetition, consistent practice, and encouragement from you. Start as early as possible with simple lessons that help them understand the value of money, why it’s important to save it, and the difference between buying the things you want and the things you need.

Keep in mind that the best money lessons in the world will be useless if your kids don’t understand them. Make sure the lessons you are teaching are age-appropriate. Try talking to younger children about goal setting and spending choices…in their case, maybe saving up for a small toy or treat. As they get older, introduce more detailed concepts in ways that are relevant to them. Talk to older kids about savings goals like smartphones or cars, introduce concepts like compound interest, open a savings account and engage in fun money discussions with them on topics like the good and bad financial habits of their favorite TV characters.

Resources like Money As You Grow and MyMoney.gov can help you find out what saving and money lessons are best for children at different ages. The CFPB is also hosting a Twitter Chat on April 24th on the topic of talking to your kids about money. Parents can ask questions using #MoneyTalk, and our panel of experts will answer them.

Military life is filled with teachable moments that can help kids learn to save. Incorporate your real life experiences into their money lessons. Use major military events in your career like promotion, permanent change of station (PCS), deployment and transition or retirement as chances to demonstrate to children why it’s important to save, how you do it and potential consequences of doing it wrong…or not at all.

Give your children the opportunity to actually save and manage real money. Were you ready to handle money the first time you had an opportunity? Kids can’t learn to save properly unless they are actually saving. If you can afford it, give your kids a small allowance and let them gain experience making saving and spending choices. If an allowance isn’t an option, talk with them about your family’s monthly income and expenses where appropriate. Help them understand why you prioritize things like rent, food, utilities, college funds and retirement savings over other things.

Finally, you can’t teach kids the value of saving and other smart money lessons if you’re bad at managing money yourself. Get yourself smart about personal finance, so you can pass those lessons on to your children.
Whether it’s saving, home buying, debt management or consumer protection, there are lots of resources out there that can help you learn to make smarter financial decisions. You can get in-person information and assistance at your base Financial Program office. On the Web you can visit us, Military OneSource, Military Saves, SaveAndInvest.org, or other trusted resources that can help you learn how to save, manage your money and raise the next generation of great savers.

It’s pretty incredible that you can quickly send money to almost anywhere in the country or abroad. Many people do so on a daily basis and starting today you can submit a money transfer complaint if you have an issue such as:

• Money was not available when promised
• Wrong amount charged or received (Transfer amounts, fees, exchange rates, taxes, etc.)
• Incorrect/missing disclosures or info
• Other transaction issues (Unauthorized transaction, cancellation, refund, etc.)
• Other service issues (Advertising or marketing, pricing, privacy, etc.)
• Fraud or scams

Before you submit

Have this information handy:

• Sender’s name and address
• Recipient’s name and address
• Date of the transfer
• Receipt or transaction number
• Name of the money transfer company, bank, credit union, or other entity that sent the transfer
• The location the money transfer was sent from (for example, if you started the money transfer in a store, the name and address of that store.)

Every complaint we receive helps us understand the challenges facing consumers, and they inform and shape our priorities.

Reading your complaints about money transfers will complement work we have already started in this area, including issuing a rule on international money transfers, which will include a new set of protections for consumers who send money internationally.

Need to submit a complaint in a different language?
Call us at (855) 411-2372 (CFPB). We can help in more than 180 different languages.

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

A few weeks ago, we announced that we’re gathering information to identify policy options for borrowers to find affordable options on their private student loans.

In that short period of time, we’ve received over 20,000 responses from individuals and organizations telling us what could be done. We’ve already posted many of the responses online – take a look.

Here’s a couple of the issues and ideas that have been submitted:

Refinance products and the capital markets: A number of participants, including a publisher of websites on financial aid and a start-up CEO, described how there may be significant demand for credit-worthy borrowers to refinance their loans and lock-in lower rates, but creative lenders face hurdles in the capital markets to fund loans. Individual borrowers have also described how the lack of refinance options impacts them.

Government-sponsored programs to promote affordable loan repayment: Many participants have talked about income-based repayment, and two separate think tanks discussed creating programs and capital vehicles to modify loan terms so borrowers can get affordable payment plans.

Impact on professions: A number of participants talked about how student debt affects their profession. For example, a medical student wrote about the inability to get a lower rate. A physician assistant serving veterans talked about the difficulty staying in public service. A school district official wrote about how the lack of repayment options on private student loans impacts teacher retention. A mortgage loan officer talked about the impact of student loans when qualifying for a mortgage.

This is just a small sample of the input we’ve received – we know there’s even more out there. Submit your ideas and input online by April 8, 2013.