CFPB: Credit Card Payment Data Suppression May Harm Consumers

The CFPB has posted a blog article, "CFPB tells credit card CEOs: Practice of suppressing payment data has potential for consumer harm." Bureau research indicates that only about half of the largest credit card companies contribute data to credit reporting companies about the exact monthly payment amounts made by borrowers. It also showed that over a short period of time, several of the largest credit card companies began to suppress actual payment amount information that they had previously provided or furnished on consumers.

Recently, the Bureau sent letters to the CEOs of the country's biggest credit card companies—JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, Capital One, Discover, and American Express—asking them to explain this practice, which has the potential to impact consumers and their ability to access credit at the most competitive rates.