Competition and innovation at CFPB
Our mission is to promote competition and innovation that benefits consumers in the financial products and services market.
We aim to fulfill this statutory mandate by:
- Identifying structural problems that block new competitors from entering the market
- Using data to strengthen competition and gauge how market innovation impacts consumers
- Working with stakeholders to identify and challenge existing market structures that harm consumers
- Coordinating with Federal, State, and international regulators on matters related to competition and innovation
Stay informed about our regulatory coordination
The CFPB partners with other financial regulators across the nation and around the world to foster a competitive and innovative environment for consumer financial products and services.
American Consumer Financial Innovation Network
The American Consumer Financial Innovation Network (ACFIN) helps Federal and State officials coordinate efforts to facilitate innovation and further objectives such as consumer access, competition, and financial inclusion. The network also seeks to help regulators keep pace with innovation to help ensure consumer financial services markets are free from fraud, discrimination, and deceptive practices.
Join ACFIN (for Federal and State officials and regulators)
Global Financial Innovation Network
The Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN) seeks to provide a more efficient way for companies to interact with regulators as they look to scale new ideas. GFIN is also looking to create a new framework of cooperation among financial services regulators around the world.
Competition Coordination with Other Federal Agencies
We also work closely with other government agencies on competition issues both bilaterally and through The White House Competition Council . You can use the information below to address concerns or complaints regarding competition issues related to these partner agencies.
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) works to protect consumers by preventing anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices through law enforcement, advocacy, and education.For information about submitting questions or concerns about antitrust violations to the FTC, visit their website. To report instances of consumer fraud, scams or bad business practices, visit https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/ .
The FTC also provides resources and guidance about the application of the U.S. antitrust laws to promote transparency, foster understanding and encourage compliance with these laws. You can find those resources here.
Department of Justice
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division works to enforce and provide guidance on antitrust laws and principles. The DOJ accepts complaints about potential antitrust violations and anticompetitive activity through the Antitrust Division’s Report Violations page.
Securities and Exchange Commission
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) works to protect investors by maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets. You can use the SEC’s online Tips, Complaints, and Referrals (TCRs) system to report concerns about anticompetitive behavior.
The National Association of Attorneys General
The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) was founded to create a forum for state attorneys general to discuss a common approach to antitrust issues. All 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, have an attorney general who serves as the chief legal officer in their jurisdiction.
If you’d like to bring an antitrust matter to the attention of your local attorney general, NAAG’s Find My AG tool can help you find the best way to get in contact.
Public Convenings
To further the CFPB’s competition and innovation goals, the office holds short, intense problem-solving sessions to research and propose new solutions. During these public convenings, we invite entrepreneurs, investors, and technology professionals to challenge existing market structures that harm consumers and develop solutions to make it easier for consumers to navigate financial markets.
One example of these public convenings are CFPB tech sprints, which aim to:
- Develop actionable technology-focused solutions to a variety of regulatory and consumer protection challenges
- Harness technology to reduce burden, improve results, and create greater efficiencies across financial markets
- Explore how technology can reshape compliance and speed effective interaction between regulators and financial institutions
Visit the Tech Sprints page to learn more.
Ideas for CFPB Rules that Could Enhance Competition or Innovation?
The CFPB responds to all petitions for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of CFPB rules, as required by the Administrative Procedure Act. For more information on how to submit a petition under that process, please see Petitions for Rulemaking.
We also accept applications under the Trial Disclosure Policy. Under this policy, companies can obtain a safe harbor for testing disclosures that improve upon existing disclosures for a limited period of time while sharing data with the CFPB.
If you are interested in the Trial Disclosure Policy, please contact us before you submit a formal application.
A Note on Engaging with the CFPB
As stated in the Trial Disclosure Policy, the Trial Disclosure Policy Waiver issued by the Bureau in connection with a granted application is limited to the factual and legal scope stated in that formal document and the recipient may reasonably rely on any Bureau commitments made in that document.
Parties who contact the Bureau in connection with a potential or pending Trial Disclosure Policy application should bear in mind the following important points about the Bureau’s assessment process under the innovation policies:
- Bureau staff limit their assessment of any potential or formal application (and of any material submitted in connection with the foregoing) to the factual and legal scope of the formal document issued by the Bureau.
- Bureau staff comment (or lack of comment) on any potential or formal application (and on any material submitted in connection with the foregoing) is informal, not binding on the Bureau, not determinative of the outcome of the application process, and has no legal consequence whatsoever.
Granted Applications
The CFPB publishes all applications that have been processed and granted under our innovation policies. You can find the full list of these applications here.
How We Handle Your Information
Our handling of information you share with the Office of Competition and Innovation is governed by applicable law , which includes the Freedom of Information Act and the Bureau’s Rule on Disclosure of Records and Information. We’ll assert those exemptions to protect your information wherever appropriate.