CFPB Report Shows Late Fees are Not a Top Complaint — for a Reason

Source: American Banker

Consumers are not complaining much about credit card late fees, but that could change dramatically if a proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau goes into effect.

CFPB Director Rohit Chopra is staking his tenure at the agency on a radical plan to wipe out $9 billion a year in consumer costs by cutting credit card late fees to just $8, down from the current first-time maximum of $30. Late fees have become a focal point for Chopra, who has called out banks and credit card issuers for turning late fees into a profit center. He also has seized on the CFPB's authority to increase late fees in line with inflation as an opportunity to reexamine and change existing rules around assessing credit card penalties. 

Yet the CFPB's proposal to slash credit card late fees does not appear to be driven by consumer complaints, according to the bureau's own data. Late fees were mentioned just once in a 76-page report that the CFPB released in March detailing the issues around the 1.3 million consumer complaints the agency received last year.