Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Issues Report on Remittance Transfers

Section 1073 of The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act 2010 requires the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) to issue a report on two topics related to remittance transfers, the transparency and disclosure to consumers of exchange rates used in remittance transfers; and the potential for using remittance histories to enhance the credit scores of consumers. With respect to the first topic, the CFPB recommends four principles for maximizing consumers’ ability to receive and use exchange rate information: (i) design, test, and use disclosures to maximize consumer comprehension; (ii) facilitate consumers’ comparisons of remittance offerings; (iii) adapt disclosures to the growing variety of channels that consumers use to initiate remittance transfers; and (iv) couple information about exchange rates with an indication or estimate of the combined effects of fees and the exchange rate. With respect to the second topic, in addition to discussing the incentives for and challenges of using remittance data in credit scores, this report describes planned CFPB research that will assess the predictiveness that remittance histories might add to credit scores.

Originally Published: 
20/07/2011