Blog

A CFPB-led research experiment suggests that people seek to find balance between paying off debt and having savings.

We use the Bureau’s Making Ends Meet survey to study whether financially vulnerable consumers have turned to credit card debt during the coronavirus pandemic. We find that credit card debt fell even for consumers who were financially vulnerable before the pandemic.

This report explores the prevalence of actual payment information in consumer credit reporting. Quarterly Consumer credit trends reports focus on a specific consumer financial product or issue using a longitudinal, nationally representative sample of de-identified credit records maintained by a nationwide consumer reporting agency.

Research by Bureau experts supports and often impacts Bureau policy. Under the new procedures the Bureau will subject important research to external peer review. Peer review by outside experts ensures the quality and credibility of technical and scientific research.

The Office of Research released a report that synthesizes the rigorous research of programs and strategies aiming to help consumers achieve greater savings. We examine three broad research areas—savings products, financial incentives, and behavioral and psychological approaches to increase savings.

Many Americans continue to face economic challenges during these uncertain times. As Consumer Financial Protection Week comes to a close, the CFPB continues to be here for you with resources to explain your rights, options and protections during the coronavirus pandemic.

New research report from the Office of Servicemember Affairs detailing the credit records of young servicemembers.

The Bureau is committed to ensuring fair, equitable, and nondiscriminatory access to credit for both individuals and communities. This report describes our fair lending activities in innovation, outreach, prioritization, guidance and rulemaking, supervision, and enforcement for calendar year 2019.

The Office of Servicemember Affairs’ annual report highlights complaints from military consumers as well as continuing trends facing the military community in the financial marketplace.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a new Market Snapshot that explores first-time homeownership. For households attempting to transition from renting to owning, shifts in the housing and mortgage markets can play a large role in whether they can afford to buy a home. This report investigates the prevalence and ease of first-time homeownership today by comparing current and historical market trends.

In July 2017, the nationwide consumer reporting agencies began removing civil judgments and tax liens from credit reports. Millions of consumers had records wiped from their report. Following these consumers over the next two years, this report looks at how the removal affected the relationship between credit scores and consumers’ credit performance.

This Data Point uses the Bureau’s Consumer Credit Panel to identify likely users of income-driven repayment and provides descriptive statistics of who these borrowers are and how delinquencies on student loans and other products change after borrowers enroll in these alternative repayment programs.

According to the latest data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), a gap in financial literacy among groups of students appears as early as age 15.

The bankruptcy system provides a legal process for consumers who cannot repay their debts.  This report describes how bankruptcy filings and the attributes of filers changed throughout the period 2001 - 2018, which includes the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) and the Great Recession.

A joint study with Credit Karma explores the relationship between subjective Financial Well-Being (FWB) and objective credit characteristics and engagement with financial education tools. The report identifies credit report and engagement variables that are significantly related to a consumer’s FWB score, including credit score, credit limit, credit utilization, and the use of a credit simulator tool. 

The analysis shows that about two thirds of actively used credit card accounts carry a revolving balance. Once consumers begin to revolve, they do so continuously for about 10 months on average, with approximately 15 percent revolving continuously for two years or more. The longer a balance is revolved, the higher the chances that the consumer will continue to revolve a balance.   

The ability of consumers to access various types of credit can be affected by their credit scores, as many lenders require a minimum credit score before credit will be extended. This report finds that consumers with lower credit scores may strategically time their applications for credit around peaks and troughs in their scores.  

New report from the Department of Defense highlights the financial well-being of servicemembers.

The Bureau is engaged in building the capacity of child savings programs by releasing four briefs geared toward institutions and communities interested in starting, or expanding child savings opportunities.

A review of existing youth financial education research, a set of research priorities, and a call for proposals to fill research gaps.   

New research brief from the Office of Servicemember Affairs on the financial well-being of veterans.

When buying a house, servicemembers have the option of taking a home loan guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In this report, we combine two datasets to explore how servicemember home loan choices have changed from 2006 to 2016.

Today, we’re releasing our sixth annual report highlighting complaints from servicemembers as well as emerging issues and continuing trends facing the military community in the financial marketplace.

The CFPB has released two reports assessing significant rules.

Recent natural disasters, such as Hurricane Harvey in 2017, have significantly impacted some consumers financially. In this report, the Bureau examines how natural disasters are reported in consumers’ credit reports.