```

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 236 (Thursday, December 8, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 76628-76633]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31153]

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BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION

12 CFR Chapter X

[Docket No. CFPB-2011-0040]

Disclosure of Certain Credit Card Complaint Data

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

ACTION: Notice of proposed policy statement with request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (the ``CFPB'') is 
requesting comment on a proposed policy statement (the ``Policy 
Statement'') that addresses the CFPB's proactive disclosure of credit 
card complaint data. The CFPB receives credit card complaints from 
consumers under the terms of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 
2010. The proposed Policy Statement sets forth the CFPB's proposed 
initial disclosure of credit card complaint data. It also identifies 
additional ways that the CFPB may disclose credit card complaint data 
but as to which the CFPB will conduct further study before finalizing 
its position. The proposed Policy Statement does not address complaint 
data about any other consumer financial product or service. The CFPB 
invites comment on all aspects of the proposed Policy Statement.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before January 30, 2012.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CFPB-2011-
0040, by any of the following methods:
     Electronic: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Monica Jackson, Consumer Financial Protection 
Bureau, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., (Attn: 1801 L Street), 
Washington, DC 20220.
     Hand Delivery/Courier in Lieu of Mail: Monica Jackson, 
Office of the Executive Secretary, Consumer Financial Protection 
Bureau, 1700 G Street NW., Washington, DC 20006.
    All submissions must include the agency name and docket number of 
this proposed Policy Statement. In general, all comments received will 
be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov. In addition, 
comments will be available for public inspection and copying at 1700 G 
Street NW., Washington, DC 20006, on official business days between the 
hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time. You can make an appointment 
to inspect the documents by telephoning (202) 435-7275.
    All comments, including attachments and other supporting materials, 
will become part of the public record and subject to public disclosure. 
Sensitive personal information, such as account numbers or social 
security numbers, should not be included. Comments will not be edited 
to remove any identifying or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Monica Jackson, Office of the 
Executive Secretary, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, at (202) 
435-7275; Scott Pluta, Office of Consumer

[[Page 76629]]

Response, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, at (202) 435-7306; or 
Will Wade-Gery, Division of Research, Markets and Regulations, Consumer 
Financial Protection Bureau, at (202) 435-7700.

    Authority:  12 U.S.C. 5492(a), 5493(b)(3)(C), 5496(c)(4), 
5511(b)(1), (5), 5512(c)(3)(B).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    On July 21, 2011, the CFPB launched a system for accepting credit 
card complaints. The CFPB developed this system pursuant to several 
provisions of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (the 
``Consumer Financial Protection Act'' or the ``Act''), including 
sections 1013(b)(3), 1025, 1034(a), and 1034(b), 12 U.S.C. 5493(b)(3), 
5515 & 5534(a)-(b). Under this new system, consumers submit credit card 
complaints to the CFPB in several ways including via the CFPB's Web 
site, http://www.consumerfinance.gov. The system is presently limited 
to accepting credit card complaints from consumers.\1\ The CFPB is 
developing plans to roll out parallel systems for other consumer 
financial products and services.
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    \1\ ``Whistleblower'' complaints are not within the scope of the 
present Policy Statement. See 12 U.S.C. 5567(a)(1).
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    As the system is presently configured, a consumer who submits a 
credit card complaint completes several non-narrative data fields. 
These include the consumer's name and address, the name of the issuing 
bank, and fields relating to the type of the complaint and claimed 
loss.\2\ Credit card consumers can also populate two narrative fields. 
These cover the consumer's description of ``what happened'' and the 
consumer's assessment of a ``fair resolution.''
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    \2\ The consumer must affirm that the submitted information is 
true to the best of his or her knowledge and belief. The system will 
accept complaints submitted on behalf of a consumer. These 
complaints may be subject to proof of signed, written permission 
from the consumer.
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    If the resulting complaint concerns a credit card issuer subject to 
the CFPB's supervision and primary enforcement under section 1025 of 
the Consumer Financial Protection Act, 12 U.S.C. 5515, the CFPB's 
Office of Consumer Response (``Consumer Response'') forwards the 
complaint to that identified issuer.\3\ If the receiving issuer 
indicates that it did not issue the relevant credit card, Consumer 
Response will attempt to forward the complaint to the correct issuer. 
Once the correct issuer has the complaint, the issuer investigates the 
complaint, communicates with the consumer as the issuer deems 
appropriate, and determines what action, if any, to take with respect 
to the complaint. At the end of this process, the issuer reports to 
Consumer Response how it has addressed the complaint.\4\ Once Consumer 
Response receives a response from the issuer, Consumer Response invites 
the consumer to review the response. The CFPB prioritizes for further 
action complaints where the consumer expresses dissatisfaction with the 
issuer's response or where the issuer fails to respond.
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    \3\ The CFPB forwards to the relevant prudential regulator any 
credit card complaint involving an issuer that is not subject to 
supervision and primary enforcement by the CFPB under section 1025.
    \4\ Initially, Consumer Response requested an issuer to 
categorize its response as ``full resolution,'' ``partial 
resolution'' or ``no resolution,'' but experience showed that 
issuers were not using these terms consistently. Under the current 
approach, in addition to any narrative material that the issuer 
provides the consumer, the issuer is asked to categorize its 
response as closing the complaint with relief or without relief.
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II. Disclosure Authority

    The Act requires the CFPB to provide certain information to 
Congress about complaints and responses. In particular, section 
1013(b)(3)(C) requires the CFPB to report annually to Congress 
information and analysis about complaint numbers, types, and, when 
applicable, resolution.\5\ See 12 U.S.C. 5493(b)(3)(C). Additionally, 
the Act permits the CFPB to exercise its authority for purposes of 
ensuring that ``consumers are provided with timely and understandable 
information to make responsible decisions about financial 
transactions'' and that ``markets for consumer financial products 
operate transparently and efficiently.'' 12 U.S.C. 5511(b)(1), (5).
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    \5\ Section 1016 also requires that the CFPB submit semi-annual 
reports to congressional oversight committees covering a range of 
topics, including ``an analysis of complaints about consumer 
financial products or services that the Bureau has received and 
collected in its central database on complaints during the preceding 
year.'' 12 U.S.C. 5496(c)(4).
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    The CFPB has broad authority to make public information that is not 
required to be given confidential treatment. See, e.g., 12 U.S.C. 
5492(a); 12 U.S.C. 5512(c)(3)(B), (c)(8). On July 22, 2011, the CFPB 
issued an interim final rule governing disclosure of records and 
information, including treatment of confidential information. See 76 FR 
45372 (July 28, 2011) (to be codified at 12 CFR Part 1070). The rule 
defines ``confidential consumer complaint information'' as 
``information received or generated by the CFPB, pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 
5493 and 5534, that comprises or documents consumer complaints or 
inquiries concerning financial institutions or consumer financial 
products and services and responses thereto, to the extent that such 
information is exempt from disclosure pursuant to [the Freedom of 
Information Act (``FOIA''),] 5 U.S.C. 552(b).'' \6\ The rule generally 
prohibits the disclosure of confidential consumer complaint 
information, except in certain limited circumstances.\7\ However, the 
rule does not limit the CFPB's discretion to disclose materials that it 
derives from confidential information, including confidential consumer 
complaint information, to the extent that such materials do not 
identify, either directly or indirectly, any particular individual to 
whom the confidential information pertains. See 12 CFR 1070.41(c).
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    \6\ 12 CFR 1070.2(f).
    \7\ See 12 CFR 1070.41 (general prohibition on disclosure of 
confidential information except as required by law or pursuant to 
the CFPB's rules); 12 CFR 1070.43 (permitting the CFPB to disclose 
confidential consumer complaint information to certain Federal and 
state agencies, provided the agencies protect the confidentiality of 
the information); 12 CFR 1070.44 (permitting the CFPB to ``disclose 
confidential consumer complaint information as it deems necessary to 
investigate, resolve, or otherwise respond to consumer complaints or 
inquiries concerning financial institutions or consumer financial 
products and services''); 12 CFR 1070.45 (permitting the CFPB to 
disclose confidential consumer complaint information in certain 
circumstances in the course of law enforcement investigations and 
proceedings); 12 CFR 1070.46 (permitting the Director to personally 
authorize the disclosure of confidential consumer complaint 
information, provided such disclosure is consistent with applicable 
law, including the Privacy Act of 1974).
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    The proposed Policy Statement does not contemplate the disclosure 
of confidential consumer complaint information. Under the proposed 
Policy Statement, the CFPB would not disclose information contained in 
consumer credit card complaints (and responses to such complaints) that 
is exempt from disclosure under the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552(b). The CFPB 
will not publish the name, full address, or credit card account number 
associated with any given credit card complaint. In addition, as 
discussed further below, our policy will be not to publish credit card 
complaint information that could enable the consumer to be identified 
by any party other than the issuer of the credit card in question. 
Further, the CFPB will not disclose confidential and proprietary 
business information that issuers provide in response to complaints. 
Because of these limitations, the CFPB's proposed publication of 
consumer complaint information pursuant to the Policy Statement does 
not rely upon any of the exceptions to the general prohibition on 
disclosure of confidential consumer complaint information.

[[Page 76630]]

    FOIA requires general public disclosure of records that have been 
disclosed in response to a FOIA request and which the CFPB ``determines 
have become or are likely to become the subject of subsequent requests 
for substantially the same records.'' 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2)(D). The CFPB's 
interim final rule regarding this provision of FOIA states that:

    Subject to the application of the FOIA exemptions and exclusions 
* * * the CFPB shall make publicly available * * * all records * * * 
which have been released previously to any person under [FOIA and 12 
CFR part 1070], and which the CFPB determines have become or are 
likely to become the subject of subsequent requests for 
substantially the same records because they are clearly of interest 
to the public at large. When the CFPB receives three (3) or more 
requests for substantially the same records, then the CFPB shall 
also make the released records publicly available.\8\

    \8\ See 12 CFR 1070.11(c). United States Department of Justice 
(``DOJ'') guidance provides that three requests for the same records 
are generally enough to trigger an agency's disclosure obligation 
under 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2)(D). Department of Justice, Office of 
Information Policy, Guide to the Freedom of Information Act, pp. 17-
18 (2009 ed.); FOIA Post, ``FOIA Counselor Q&A: `Frequently 
Requested' Records'' (7/25/03) available at  http://www.justice.gov/oip/foiapost/2003foiapost28.htm.

The CFPB has received and is reviewing comments on its interim FOIA 
rules, including the provision concerning section 552(a)(2)(D) of FOIA.
    The CFPB's credit card complaint process has been widely 
publicized, and there is a high level of public interest in information 
regarding these complaints. As a result, the CFPB believes that its 
credit card complaint records may become subject to multiple, 
overlapping FOIA requests. The CFPB seeks comment on the interplay 
between the proposed Policy Statement and the possible application of 
the requirements of section 552(a)(2)(D) of FOIA.

III. Rationale for Disclosing Certain Credit Card Complaint Data

    The CFPB has developed the proposed Policy Statement in light of 
its statutory purposes of helping to provide consumers with ``timely 
and understandable information to make responsible decisions about 
financial transactions'' and helping the credit card market to 
``operate transparently and efficiently.'' 12 U.S.C. 5511(b)(1) & (5). 
We have separated the issue of disclosure of the narrative fields of 
complaint data from disclosure of the non-narrative fields. These 
issues implicate discrete considerations.
    We have reviewed disclosure practices at other Federal and state 
agencies, the complaint-handling experience of other financial 
regulators, and the positions of different stakeholders as they have 
been voiced to the CFPB to date. As noted, the proposed Policy 
Statement only covers the disclosure of certain credit card complaint 
data. Disclosing data on other types of complaints may raise different 
considerations that are not addressed by the proposed Policy Statement. 
Furthermore, the proposed Policy Statement does not concern the CFPB's 
internal uses of complaint data nor is it intended to limit the CFPB's 
discretion to share complaint data as otherwise permitted by law.
    The CFPB will carefully consider comments it receives in response 
to this notice and its continued experience with the operation of the 
CFPB's credit card complaint system before finalizing the Policy 
Statement. Once the CFPB finalizes this Policy Statement, we will study 
its effectiveness on an ongoing basis. In addition to seeking comments 
on the proposed Policy Statement, the CFPB also invites comment on the 
appropriate ways to study the effectiveness of credit card complaint 
data disclosure. Although the present Policy Statement is limited to 
credit card complaints, what the CFPB learns about disclosure in this 
context may serve to inform disclosure of complaint data about other 
financial products and services.

A. Disclosing Non-Narrative Field Data Will Let Outside Parties 
Identify Trends and Patterns That They Believe May Help Inform Consumer 
Decisions About Credit Card

    There is considerable controversy over the extent to which credit 
card consumer complaint data can provide consumers with useful or 
reliable information for making decisions about credit card use. Credit 
card complaints, of course, are not necessarily representative of the 
experience of all consumers with a particular credit card product or 
issuer. Rather, the credit card complaints submitted to the CFPB 
represent the experience of a non-random subset of credit card 
consumers: Those who view themselves as aggrieved by an action or 
inaction of an issuer, who were unable to obtain satisfactory relief 
from the issuer (or who elected not to seek such relief), and who have 
chosen to appeal to the CFPB for assistance. Some argue, therefore, 
that making information about these complaints publicly available has 
the potential to provide information to consumers that is not reliable 
or probative.
    Others argue that by examining trends and patterns in consumer 
credit card complaints over time, or by examining differences in credit 
card complaint patterns across issuers, careful researchers may be able 
to discern information that would be useful and relevant to consumers 
in making better-informed decisions among payment devices or between 
credit card issuers. In this view, even though the experience of 
complainants is not necessarily representative of the experience of all 
consumers, changes in the volume or mix of complaints, or differences 
across issuers and complaint types, can illuminate important patterns 
or trends in the marketplace.
    The CFPB anticipates that if it disclosed credit card complaint 
data, those who would be most likely to mine the data for trends and 
patterns and to publish their conclusions would be academics and groups 
dedicated to empowering consumers in making well-informed decisions.\9\ 
Of course, there may be differences of opinion as to the inferences or 
conclusions reached by these individuals and groups based upon their 
review of complaint data. To the extent that there are differences in 
opinion, the CFPB expects that those differences will be publicly aired 
in a way that will enable consumers who are interested in this data to 
evaluate the alternative interpretations and reach their own 
conclusions.
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    \9\ In addition, issuers would likely mine the data and might 
publicize to consumers how their complaint performance measures up 
against competitors.
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    Our expectation gains support from the experience of other agencies 
that have made consumer complaint data publicly available. Outside 
groups have already used complaint field data published by another 
Federal agency--the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission 
(``NHTSA'')--to assemble trend and pattern data for consumers. 
Beginning with 2005 data, one private provider of automotive 
information has recompiled all the individual consumer complaints 
lodged with safercar.gov, the vehicle safety complaint database that 
NHTSA maintains.\10\
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    \10\ The data is available at http://www.edmunds.com/car-news/nhtsa-complaints-report.html.
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    Outside groups also make regular use of airline passenger complaint 
data that the Department of Transportation's Office of Aviation 
Enforcement and Proceedings (``OAEP'') discloses every month in its Air 
Travel Consumer Report.\11\ Unlike NHTSA, OAEP does not make field data 
available at the individual complaint level, but instead publishes its 
own aggregations of field

[[Page 76631]]

data.\12\ The use to which outside groups have put this data show how 
organizations might use the non-narrative field data that CFPB proposes 
to disclose. Providers that have scored well in the OAEP data have 
publicized that fact to consumers. One airline notes that it has 
``consistently received the lowest ratio of complaints per passengers 
boarded of all major U.S. carriers'' since the OEAP began publishing 
the Air Travel Consumer Report.\13\ Outside reviewers have also 
publicized poor or worsening airline performance.\14\ The annual 
Airline Quality Rating reports rate U.S. and other airlines using 
numerous data sources including the OAEP's complaint data. These 
findings reportedly reach millions of consumers every year.\15\ In all 
these respects, OAEP provides the critical field data. The marketplace 
of ideas then does the rest.
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    \11\ The reports are available at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/index.htm.
    \12\ The OAEP reports complaints by complaint type and by 
airline, expressed as incidence rates per 100,000 enplanements. See, 
e.g., Air Travel Consumer Report (Sept. 2011) at pp. 39 & 43, 
available at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/2011/September/2011SeptATCR.PDF.
    \13\ See http://www.southwest.com/html/about-southwest/history/fact-sheet.html.
    \14\ See, e.g., H. Shami, America's Meanest Airlines: 2011, U.S. 
News, available at http://www.travel.usnews.com/features.
    \15\ Dr. Brent Bowen and Dr. Dean E. Hadley prepare these 
reports. The latest report is available at http://www.airlineinfo.com/public/2011aqr.pdf.
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    The Consumer Product Safety Commission (``CPSC'') began making 
consumer reports of harm publicly available in March, 2011. It is too 
early to assess how researchers will use the data in the CPSC's public 
database, saferproducts.gov.\16\ As described in a recent report 
prepared by the General Accounting Office, product manufacturers or 
their representatives have expressed concern that reports in the 
database may misidentify products or manufacturers and that reports can 
be submitted by individuals who did not experience the reported 
incident of harm.\17\ Neither concern applies to the CFPB's credit card 
complaint data. Credit card complaints are filed by cardholders (or by 
an authorized representative). The issuer of the applicable credit card 
can be reliably identified from the submitted credit card number.
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    \16\ One consumer group has analyzed the first four months of 
data and identified certain trends, including the percentage of 
reports about products subject to a pre-report recall. See http://www.kidsindanger.org/docs/reports/Straight_From_The_Source_Report.pdf.
    \17\ General Accounting Office, Consumer Product Safety 
Commission: Action Needed to Strengthen Identification of 
Potentially Unsafe Products (Oct. 2011) at pp. 9, 13.
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    In light of the potential for credit card complaint data to be 
analyzed for information that would be useful to consumers, and the 
experience of other agencies, the proposed Policy Statement calls for 
two forms of public disclosure with respect to the non-narrative fields 
of consumer credit card complaint data. These two forms of public 
disclosure are discussed below.
1. Data Made Publicly Available by the CFPB
    The CFPB proposes to make certain fields of the non-narrative 
complaint data available to the public in fully searchable and 
downloadable format. To protect consumers' privacy, the database will 
not include non-narrative fields that expressly call for personally 
identifying information (``PII'') (i.e., the name and address fields). 
The database will include data fields that cover the type of complaint, 
the issuer involved, the date of the complaint, and the zip code of the 
consumer.\18\ The disclosed field data for each complete complaint will 
be linked by a unique identifier, enabling outside reviewers to 
aggregate and correlate the data as they wish. The CFPB intends to 
provide, with each data release, information about the limitations of 
the data disclosed, including appropriate disclaimers as to accuracy 
and representativeness.\19\
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    \18\ A zip code may be seen as PII because it can function with 
other data elements to enable re-identification. In light of the 
other non-narrative fields that we propose to disclose, however, the 
CFPB does not anticipate that consumer zip codes will lead to such 
disclosure here.
    \19\ For example, how CFPB categorizes credit card complaint 
types will impact the potential uses of the data. To minimize any 
distortive impact from this categorization, the CFPB will work to 
ensure that the categories reflect complaints as accurately as 
possible. As a result, complaint categories may change over time.
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2. Reports Published by the CFPB
    In addition to making certain credit card complaint data available 
for research and analysis, the CFPB proposes to publish periodic 
reports about trends and patterns in complaint data that will give 
consumers meaningful information about credit card use. These reports 
also will explain how we use credit card complaint data to work towards 
other goals that Congress has set for us. On November 30, 2011 the CFPB 
published an interim report that addressed Consumer Response's handling 
of credit card complaints received during the first three months of the 
complaint system's operation. Going forward, our reports may contain 
additional data aggregations, as explained further below.
    The precise data aggregations that CFPB publishes will depend on 
our assessment of what conclusions can fairly be drawn from the data 
for a given reporting period. It is possible, for example, that we will 
not receive enough credit card complaints in any given time period to 
generate useful information with respect to some potential 
aggregations. If sample sizes are too small, variations across issuer, 
time, and subject matter may not reflect statistically significant 
patterns and trends. We will be mindful of these statistical 
significance issues in determining what types of trend and pattern data 
to report and on what schedule.
    We have also identified a number of questions that will need to be 
answered in deciding whether to publish certain specific data 
aggregations. We invite comment on how these questions may be answered.
    First, some trend and pattern data may need context to make the 
data informative to consumers. Complaint counts by issuer are one 
apparent example. Unless weighted appropriately against the relative 
size of an issuer's credit card business--a process commonly referred 
to as ``normalization''--their disclosure may not offer consumers any 
meaningful information. The CFPB invites comment on how best to address 
this issue, including whether there is an available and appropriate 
normalization metric for these purposes.
    Second, some products may, by their very nature, have higher 
complaint rates than others, even across all issuers that offer them. 
As a result, these products could cause issuers' complaint incidence to 
vary more by product mix than by performance. The CFPB invites comment 
on how best to address this issue, including whether there is an 
available and appropriate normalization metric for these purposes.
    Third, data on the rate at which the CFPB procures relief for 
consumers in response to credit card complaints may not be meaningful 
if broken out by issuer. If an issuer has a relatively low rate of 
offering responses that consumers accept, that may reflect its failure 
to respond to legitimate grievances. However, it may instead reflect 
that the issuer has effective internal complaint processes and/or low-
complaint products, causing the complaints that reach the CFPB to lack 
merit. The CFPB invites comment on how best to address this issue.

[[Page 76632]]

B. Until Further Study Can Be Conducted, the CFPB Will Not Disclose 
Narrative Data Fields Because of the Privacy Risk to Individual 
Consumers

    The CFPB's consumer credit card complaint form includes narrative 
fields in which the consumer is asked to describe ``what happened'' and 
a ``fair resolution.'' The issuer is also invited to submit a narrative 
response to the complaint. Some Federal agencies--most notably the 
CPSC, pursuant to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008--
maintain consumer databases that include consumer and industry 
narratives. Disclosure of narrative fields, however, would be unlikely 
to facilitate statistical analyses of trends or patterns in the credit 
card complaint data. In addition, although disclosure of the narrative 
fields would allow those who review the complaint data to gain more 
insight into the substance of complaints than can be gleaned from the 
field that categorizes complaints by issue type, it might also expose 
issuers to reputational harm from potentially inaccurate, misleading, 
or incomplete narratives.
    For the time being, the CFPB need not resolve the tension between 
these competing interests, because disclosing these narrative fields 
would pose clear risks to privacy interests and to the functioning of 
the consumer complaint system. The narrative fields are populated 
entirely at the discretion of the consumer and the issuer. The 
resulting narratives may include core PII such as the name of the 
complainant. Moreover, there is a risk that the information contained 
in the narratives may contain detailed and idiosyncratic information of 
a type that, if made public, would enable some reviewers of that 
information to identify the consumer who submitted the complaint.
    Publishing narratives could also discourage consumers from 
providing information in the narrative fields that might carry some 
risk of identification. Because such information might be useful to the 
resolution of some complaints, that result could disserve the CFPB's 
primary goal with respect to complaints, which is to address each 
consumer's complaint efficiently and effectively. It could also 
discourage consumers from submitting complaints, hindering the 
complaint resolution process and also restricting the supply of credit 
card complaint data.\20\ Publishing narratives only if a consumer 
affirmatively opts in to--or fails to opt out of--publication might 
alleviate this problem.\21\ The CFPB invites comment on the impact of a 
consumer opt-in (or, in the alternative, a consumer opt-out) on the 
merits of disclosing narrative data. The CFPB also seeks comment on 
whether issuers should have a parallel ability to opt into or out of 
publication of narrative responses, or the ability to provide a public 
and non-public response to a complaint.
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    \20\ Publication of issuer narratives could have similar 
effects. To explain its practices adequately to a consumer, an 
issuer may have to disclose elements of the consumer's private 
financial information, including details that might enable re-
identification. Again, there is a risk that some consumers will opt 
against submitting a complaint in the event that the issuer's 
response will be published.
    \21\ The complaint system currently has no disclosure opt-in (or 
opt-out) provisions.
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    Ultimately, however, the privacy risks cannot be systematically 
assessed other than by reviewing the complaints and issuer responses 
that we receive. The CFPB will conduct the necessary comprehensive 
study and will continue to gather data from submitted complaints as the 
complaint process further develops. As part of that study, the CFPB 
also will evaluate the CFPB resources that would be required to redact 
such information so as to eliminate PII and minimize the risk of 
identification. In the interim, the CFPB will not disclose narratives 
because of the potentially significant risk to consumers' privacy 
interests.

IV. Proposed Policy Statement

    The text of the proposed Policy Statement is as follows:

1. Purposes of Credit Card Complaint Data Disclosure

    The CFPB receives credit card complaints from consumers. The CFPB 
intends to disclose certain information about credit card complaints in 
a public database and in the CFPB's own periodic reports.
    The purpose of this disclosure is to provide consumers with timely 
and understandable information about credit cards and to improve the 
functioning of the credit card market. By enabling more informed 
decisions about credit card use, the CFPB intends for its complaint 
data disclosures to improve the transparency and efficiency of the 
credit card market.

2. Public Access to Data Fields

    After the effective date of this Policy Statement, the CFPB will 
provide public access to a database containing non-narrative fields for 
each complete consumer credit card complaint and response within the 
scope of the CFPB's authority under section 1025 of the Consumer 
Financial Protection Act. The consumer defines the inputs to some of 
the fields when he or she (or an authorized representative) inputs a 
credit card complaint into the CFPB's system. These fields, therefore, 
represent the consumer's own characterization of his or her credit card 
complaint. The issuer's response will define other non-narrative 
fields.
    The database will cover non-narrative fields that do not contain 
confidential personal information, including but not limited to: The 
subject area or areas covered by the credit card complaint; the name of 
the card issuer; the zip code in which the consumer lives; the date of 
the complaint; and whether and how an issuer responded.
    In cases where an issuer represents to the CFPB that it has been 
wrongly identified as the issuer of a card, that issuer's name will not 
be disclosed pending a determination of the correct issuer. Once the 
CFPB identifies the correct issuer, the name of that issuer will be 
included.\22\
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    \22\ The consumer's card number generally will enable 
verification of the correct issuer.
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    The public will have online access to the database. The database 
will enable user-defined searches. The fields for each complaint will 
be linked with a unique identifier, enabling reviewers to aggregate the 
data as they choose, including by complaint type, issuer, location, 
date, or any combination of these variables. Users also will be able to 
download the data so that they can carry out additional review.
    The CFPB will update the database on a regular basis. To provide an 
issuer sufficient time to establish that it did not issue the credit 
card listed in a particular complaint, the update will not take place 
until at least one month after submission.
    The public database will not include a consumer's name, credit card 
number, or address details. At least until the CFPB can conduct further 
study, it will exclude the consumer's narrative description of ``what 
happened'' and of ``fair resolution.'' It also will exclude an issuer's 
narrative response. These narrative fields may contain personally 
identifiable information or other information that could enable 
identification. The threat of such disclosure might also suppress 
complaints or reduce the specificity of complaint narratives, thereby 
undermining the effectiveness of the complaint process.

3. Regular CFPB Reporting on Complaints

    At periodic intervals, the CFPB will publish reports about the 
consumer credit card complaints that it handles.

[[Page 76633]]

The reports may contain our analysis of patterns or trends that we 
identify in the complaint data. The CFPB intends for its reporting to 
provide information that will be valuable to consumers and other market 
participants. Before determining what reports to issue beyond those 
relating to the CFPB's handling of the complaints, the CFPB will study 
the volume and content of credit card complaints that it has received 
in a given reporting period for patterns or trends that it is able to 
discern from the data. If the data will support it, the CFPB intends 
for its reports to include some standardized metrics that would provide 
comparisons across reporting periods. The reports will also describe 
our use of credit card complaint data across the range of our statutory 
authorities during a reporting period.

4. Matters for Further Study

    Going forward, the CFPB intends to study the effectiveness of its 
credit card complaint disclosure policy in realizing its stated 
purposes. In addition, the CFPB will carry out a study of the narrative 
fields submitted by consumers and issuers. The study will assess 
whether there are practical ways to disclose narrative data in a manner 
that will improve consumer understanding without undermining privacy 
interests or the effectiveness of the credit card complaint process and 
without creating unwarranted reputational injury to issuers.

    Dated: November 30, 2011.
Meredith Fuchs,
Chief of Staff.
[FR Doc. 2011-31153 Filed 12-7-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P
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