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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 56 (Tuesday, March 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15583-15585]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-06707]

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BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION

[Docket No. CFPB-2015-0013]

Request for Information Regarding the Consumer Complaint Database

AGENCY: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

ACTION: Notice and request for information.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (the ``Bureau'') 
is issuing a Notice and Request for Information (``RFI'') to solicit 
and collect input from the public on the potential collection and 
sharing of consumer compliments about providers of consumer financial 
products and services and more information about a company's complaint 
handling.

DATES: Submit comments on or before May 26, 2015.

ADDRESSES: You may submit responsive information and other comments, 
identified by Docket No. CFPB-2015-0013, by any of the following 
methods:
     Electronic: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Monica Jackson, Office of the Executive Secretary, 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street NW., Washington, DC 
20552.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Monica Jackson, Office of the 
Executive Secretary, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1275 First 
Street NE., Washington, DC 20002.
    Instructions: The Bureau encourages the early submission of 
comments. All submissions must include the document title and docket 
number. Because paper mail in the Washington, DC area and at the Bureau 
is subject to delay, commenters are encouraged to submit comments 
electronically. 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 1275 First 
Street NE., Washington, DC 20002, 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 submissions, 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. Submissions will not 
be edited to remove any identifying or contact information.

[[Page 15584]]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For submission process questions 
please contact Monica Jackson, Office of the Executive Secretary, at 
(202) 435-7275. For inquires related to the substance of this request, 
please contact Scott Pluta, at (202) 435-7306.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

    Authority: 12 U.S.C. 5511(c).

    Background: The Bureau, established under the Dodd-Frank Wall 
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (``Dodd-Frank Act''), 
hears directly from the American public about their experiences with 
the nation's consumer financial marketplace. An important element of 
the Bureau's mission is the handling of individual consumer complaints 
regarding consumer financial products and services. In June 2012, the 
Bureau began making certain de-identified individual-level complaint 
data available via its Web-based, public facing database (the 
``Consumer Complaint Database''). Since launch, the Consumer Complaint 
Database has been expanded multiple times to include additional 
consumer financial products and data fields. Concurrent with this RFI, 
the Bureau is publishing a final policy statement to provide guidance 
on how the Bureau plans to exercise its discretion to disclose publicly 
unstructured consumer complaint narrative data via the Consumer 
Complaint Database. As part of the public comment process associated 
with that policy, several trade associations and companies commented 
that the Consumer Complaint Database should include positive feedback 
in conjunction with complaint narratives. One commenter suggested that 
if the Database is to function as a marketplace of ideas, then it 
should reflect the entire market and not solely consumers submitting 
complaints. Several trade associations stated that if the database is 
to be likened to private Web-based review sites, then positive feedback 
is necessary.
    Current Bureau Operations: The Bureau currently collects and shares 
some positive feedback regarding company complaint handling. For 
example, the public Consumer Complaint Database currently shares 
information that can be used to highlight a company's positive 
complaint handling relative to its peers, e.g., whether company 
responses are timely or disputed by the consumer.
    Positive Consumer Feedback: Broadly speaking, the Bureau conceives 
of two potential avenues for sharing positive consumer feedback about 
companies: (1) By providing more information about a company's 
complaint handling, and (2) by collecting and providing consumer 
compliments (independent of the complaint process). Each will be 
discussed in turn.

1. Company Complaint Handling

    In 2014, the Bureau sent approximately 156,600 consumer complaints 
to companies for response. In 2013 and 2012, that figure was 113,200 
and 75,400, respectively. When a company receives a complaint from the 
Bureau, it has 15 calendar days for its initial response and up to 60 
calendar days to provide a final response. The company reviews the 
information, communicates with the consumer as needed, and determines 
what action to take in response. Once the company responds, the Bureau 
alerts the consumer and invites him or her to review the response and 
provide feedback.
    The data shared via the Consumer Complaint Database can reveal 
positive company behavior. The purposes of publishing the Consumer 
Complaint Database include providing consumers with timely and 
understandable information about consumer financial products and 
services, and improving the functioning, transparency, and efficiency 
of markets for such products and services. Consumer complaints are a 
natural part of doing business. Therefore, it is not the existence of a 
routine complaint, by itself, that draws the attention of the market, 
but instead it is factors such as the number of complaints relative to 
comparable companies, how a company handles its complaints, the 
patterns and categories that identify and show the frequency of certain 
complaints, and perhaps the occasional notable fact pattern. The Bureau 
believes there are opportunities to highlight positive company behavior 
within at least the first two of these characteristics--relative volume 
and quality of response to the consumer. With this RFI, the Bureau is 
specifically interested in responses that identify potential ways the 
Bureau could record, calculate, standardize, sort, share, and visualize 
the data associated with the consumer complaints the Bureau sends to 
companies in ways that reveal positive company behavior. The following 
represents a non-exhaustive list of potential metrics that the Bureau 
could share on its Web site:
    i. Total number of complaints, by product and issue.
    ii. Normalized number of complaints by company, by product and 
issue.
    iii. Company Final Responses. Controlling for other variables, 
e.g., product and issue, comparison of how companies choose to close 
complaints.
    iv. Timeliness and speed:
    a. Average time between complaint receipt and initial/final 
response.
    b. Frequency of exceeding either the 15 or 60 day allowance.
    v. Consumer Sentiment Analysis. Refers to the use of automated 
textual analysis to identify and extract subjective information in 
source materials, e.g., classifying the various complaint narratives 
fields across a spectrum of emotional states.
    The Bureau also seeks comment on a potential adjustment of the 
consumer ``dispute'' function. Under one potential scenario, the 
dispute function would be replaced with a two-part consumer feedback 
process. The consumer would have the ability to rate the company's 
handling of his or her complaint on a one to five scale of satisfaction 
and provide a description in support of the rating. Positive feedback 
about the company's handling of the consumer's complaint would be 
reflected by both high satisfaction scores and by the narrative in 
support of the score. The Bureau would consider whether and how these 
data elements could be disclosed to the public.
    The Bureau is also seeking input on the most effective and user-
friendly ways to make the above data available to the public. The 
ability to download the raw data may be an option. Other options may 
include comparison tools, dashboards, and visualizations. Lastly, the 
Bureau could release tables listing, e.g., the ``Top Ten'' (and bottom) 
companies across some number of the above metrics. The Bureau is 
interested in hearing not only whether the public believes these to be 
good ideas, but mechanically how they could work. The following 
represents some of the issues to be considered:
     Timing. How often should the lists be updated, e.g., 
daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly?
     Normalization. Should the lists include normalized results 
or just those metrics that do not require normalization, e.g., time 
from receipt to final company response?
     Size Threshold. Should there be a minimum complaint volume 
threshold to be included on the list?
     Metrics. Which metric should be subject to listing, e.g., 
volume of normalized complaints, types of resolutions, consumer 
satisfaction/dispute rates, consumer sentiment?

2. Compliments

    Outside of the Bureau's current complaint handling operation, 
another possible avenue for highlighting positive company behavior 
would be to solicit, collect, and share consumer

[[Page 15585]]

compliments. This could entail a new submission type, channel, and 
process for the Bureau as well as a new database to list such 
compliments. The Bureau is seeking input from the public on this idea 
generally, as well as focused comments across the following elements:

a. Channel

    The Bureau maintains a feature on its Web site called Tell Your 
Story, which gives consumers the opportunity to share their experiences 
with consumer financial products and services. These submissions are 
reviewed by CFPB staff and help the Bureau understand current issues in 
the financial marketplace. This channel could operate as-is and 
instances of consumer compliments could be shared with the public (with 
the appropriate consumer consent). Alternatively, Tell Your Story could 
be altered to solicit consumer compliments more directly. Or a new 
channel could be launched that is specifically designed to intake only 
consumer compliments. The Bureau requests public comment on the 
possibility of expanding the Tell Your Story channel, and/or specific 
suggestions for alternate channels to facilitate positive feedback.

b. Operations

    As detailed previously, consumer complaints follow a specific 
process path, from the consumer to the Bureau to the company and back 
to the consumer. If the Bureau established a new database to intake and 
publish consumer compliments, should the same process apply? How should 
the Bureau confirm that a commercial relationship exists between the 
consumer submitting the compliment and the company? Specifically, 
should consumer compliments be sent to the relevant company for the 
company to confirm that a commercial relationship exists between the 
consumer and the company? Are there any other operational 
considerations that would benefit the public that the Bureau should 
consider when designing, developing, and implementing a system for 
collecting consumer compliments?

c. Disclosure

    The Consumer Complaint Database does not disclose every complaint 
the Bureau receives. Examples of complaints that are withheld from 
disclosure include complaints where the commercial relationship could 
not be confirmed, complaints that are referred to other regulators, 
complaints where the information is incomplete, complaints involving 
ongoing litigation with the company, and anonymous complaints. As with 
complaints, the Bureau would have to determine (1) what elements of a 
consumer compliment to disclose publicly, and (2) which compliments 
should be excluded from disclosure, and (3) how scrubbing and consent 
should be applied. The Bureau is seeking input from the public on these 
questions.
    Creative and Innovative Solutions. The above framework for 
considering positive company feedback should be considered as just 
that, a framework. The Bureau is seeking innovative and creative input 
on the idea of highlighting positive consumer experiences and company 
performance. Therefore, while the above provides some focus for this 
solicitation, the Bureau is hopeful that it will receive a number of 
innovative ideas that it can evaluate and potentially implement.

    Dated: March 12, 2015.
Richard Cordray,
Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
[FR Doc. 2015-06707 Filed 3-23-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P
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