Consumer Banking Help Called For
January 10, 2008
There was recent testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit by the Consumers Union and Consumer Federation of America, both of which endorsed the Financial Consumer Hotline Act of 2007. This Act would establish a single toll-free bank complaint hotline, as well as other improvements that would make it easier for consumers to voice their banking complaints.
As it stands right now, there are five different federal agencies that oversee national and state-chartered banks, savings and loans, and federal credit unions. Each of these agencies has its own complaint system. There is currently no toll free number or single website that consumers can use to complain to any of these agencies regardless of where they do their banking.
According to Jeannine Kenney, Senior Policy Analyst for Consumers Union, “To most consumers, a bank is a bank.”
She went on to say, “Consumers should not need to wind though a Byzantine maze of federal regulators in order to get the help they need. When it is too hard to complain, not only are consumers left without recourse, but regulators do not get a clear picture about what is going wrong in the marketplace.”
It is expected that the subcommittee will take up the issue in 2008.