Several industry trade associations are urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to grant a 60-day extension for comments on its proposed rule on credit card late fees that financial institutions collect.
The proposed rule would reduce the $12 billion financial institutions collect in credit card late fees each year.
“In making this request, the undersigned Associations note that CFPB is choosing to reopen a rule that was enacted by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve in 2010 with little controversy and has continued to operate without substantial amendment through the tenure of former CFPB leaders,” wrote the groups to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “The most recent adjustment to the allowable late fees occurred in just the last year when the CFPB under your leadership published a final rule setting the current first instance safe harbor ($30) and the second instance safe harbor ($41).”
The letter was signed by the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU), Credit Union National Association (CUNA), American Bankers Association, Bank Policy Institute, Consumer Bankers Association, and Independent Community Bankers of America.
The groups noted that the CFPB’s regulatory action on fees was not included in its spring 2022 regulatory agenda, so they requested more time to process and analyze the proposed rule. They said the typical 30-day comment period is not a sufficient enough period of time to go through the large volume of data.
“The information sought in this ANPR is complex and comprehensive, requiring significant analysis and internal coordination to enable firms to provide a meaningful contribution to the public comment record in furtherance of the CFPB’s consideration of credit card late fees and late payments,” the letter reads. “Many of the data points requested have not previously been requested by the CFPB, and respondents require more time than has been provided to properly validate their data production methods and to actually produce what is expected to be a large volume of data.”