WASHINGTON–The CFPB said late last week it plans to implement greater controls to ensure the accuracy of its Consumer Complaint Portal, a move that has been welcomed by America’s Credit Unions.
The trade group noted that it has for several years been urging the CFPB to make changes, including in a 2024 comment letter and again in 2025 as part of a joint letter with other organizations.
“We welcome the CFPB’s decision to strengthen guardrails in its consumer complaint portal to ensure complaints are real, non-duplicative, and properly attested to by consumers. America’s Credit Unions repeatedly urged these improvements,” America’s Credit Unions President/CEO Scott Simpson said in a statement. “For many credit unions, especially large institutions, the volume of duplicative or unverifiable complaints has required significant staff time and resources that could otherwise be focused on serving members. These updates help restore balance to the complaint process, improve data quality, and ensure the system better reflects genuine consumer concerns. A fair, accurate complaint process benefits consumers, regulators, and financial institutions alike, and we appreciate the CFPB taking a constructive step in that direction.”
The Changes
Noting the CFPB has added two pages of disclaimers to its complaint portal, America’s CUs said the new CFPB proposal also includes:
- Instructions notifying consumers not to file complaints about inaccurate information
- Requiring consumers to attest to the truthfulness of any complaint.
- Requiring personal information so the CFPB knows they are a real person who can be identified.
“America’s Credit Unions supported a strong verification process for the database due to problems that may arise from bad actors and other inaccuracies,” the trade group said.
Not Everyone Supports Move
Not every organization supports the changes being proposed by the CFPB. As the CU Daily reported here, the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) is criticizing a move by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that it said has started the process of potentially changing the Bureau’s complaint system to make it harder for people to file complaints against credit reporting companies – and possibly against debt collectors, banks, and other big businesses.
