Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 53 / Thursday, March 19, 2015 / Notices 14365 

1See 15 U.S.C. 1616(a). 

2See 15 U.S.C. 1616(b). 

3CARD Act Report, available at, http://

files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201309_cfpb_card-actreport.pdf. 

4The CARD Act’s provisions took effect in three 

stages: August 2009, February 2010, and October 

2011. 5Public Law 111–24, 123 Stat. 1734 (2009). 

Requests for sign language 

interpretation or other auxiliary aids 

should be directed to Gail Bendixen at 

(907) 271–2809 at least 7 working days 

prior to the meeting date. 

Dated: March 16, 2015. 

Tracey L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Director, Office of Sustainable 

Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2015–06308 Filed 3–18–15; 4:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL 

PROTECTION 

[Docket No. CFPB–2015–0007] 

Request for Information Regarding 

Credit Card Market 

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

information. 

SUMMARY: Section 502(a) of the Credit 

Card Accountability Responsibility and 

Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act or 

Act) requires the Bureau of Consumer 

Financial Protection (Bureau or CFPB) 

to conduct a review (Review) of the 

consumer credit card market, within the 

limits of its existing resources available 

for reporting purposes. In connection 

with conducting that Review, and in 

accordance with Section 502(b) of the 

CARD Act, the Bureau is soliciting 

information from the public about a 

number of aspects of the consumer 

credit card market, described further 

below. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before May 18, 2015 to be assured of 

consideration. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit responsive 

information and other comments, 

identified by the document title and 

Docket No. CFPB–2015–0007, by any of 

the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Email: FederalRegisterComments@

cfpb.gov. Include the document title and 

Docket No. CFPB–2015–0007 in the 

subject line of the message. 

• 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: All submissions should 

include the agency name and docket 

number for this proposal. 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 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 

generally will not be edited to remove 

any identifying or contact information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

general inquiries, submission process 

questions, or any additional 

information, please contact Wei Zhang, 

Division of Research, Markets and 

Regulations, Consumer Financial 

Protection Bureau, at (202) 435–7700, or 

wei.zhang@cfpb.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Section 502(a) of the CARD Act 1

requires the Bureau to conduct a review, 

within the limits of its existing 

resources available for reporting 

purposes, of the consumer credit card 

market every two years. To inform that 

review, Section 502(b) 2 instructs the 

Bureau to seek public comment. 

The Bureau’s first such review was 

published in October, 2013.3 To inform 

the Bureau’s next review, the Bureau 

hereby invites members of the public, 

including consumers, credit card 

issuers, industry analysts, consumer 

advocates, and other interested persons 

to submit information and other 

comments relevant to the issued 

expressly identified in Section 2 below, 

as well as any information they believe 

is relevant to a review of the credit card 

market, including the impact of the 

CARD Act on that market. 

1. Background: The CARD Act 

The CARD Act was signed into law in 

May 2009.4 Passage of the Act was 

expressly intended to ‘‘establish fair and 

transparent practices related to the 

extension of credit’’ in the credit card 

market.5 To achieve these agreed-upon 

purposes, the Act changed the 

requirements applicable to credit card 

pricing in a number of significant 

respects including direct limits on a 

number of pricing practices that 

Congress deemed unfair or unclear to 

consumers. A high-level summary of 

CARD Act changes, along with further 

information about the CARD Act is 

available on the Bureau’s Web site at 

www.consumerfinance.gov/credit-cards. 

2. Issues on Which the Bureau Seeks 

Public Comment for Its Review 

In connection with its pending 

Review, the Bureau seeks information 

from members of the public about how 

the credit card market is functioning. 

The Bureau seeks comments in three 

primary areas. Firstly, the Bureau seeks 

comments on the continuing impact of 

the CARD Act on the credit card market, 

including but not limited to those 

questions explicitly outlined in Section 

502(a) and in (a) through (d) below. 

Secondly, the Bureau seeks comments 

on six areas of further interest as 

previously outlined in the previous 

Review, published October 2013, 

delineated in (e) through (j) below. 

Thirdly, the Bureau has since identified 

additional specific areas of interest on 

which it specifically seeks comment, 

outlined in (k) through (l). 

The Bureau wants to be alerted to and 

understand the information that 

consumers, credit card issuers, 

consumer groups, and others believe is 

most relevant to the Bureau’s review of 

the credit card market, so this list of 

subjects should not be viewed as 

exhaustive. Commenters are encouraged 

to address any other areas of interest or 

concern to them. 

Please feel free to comment generally 

and/or respond to any or all of the 

questions below but please be sure to 

indicate in your comments on which 

topic areas or questions you are 

commenting: 

(a) The Terms of Credit Card 

Agreements and the Practices of Credit 

Card Issuers 

How have the substantive terms and 

conditions of credit card agreements or 

the length and complexity of such 

agreements changed over the past two 

years? How have issuers changed their 

pricing, marketing, underwriting, or 

other practices? 


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14366 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 53 / Thursday, March 19, 2015 / Notices 

(b) The Effectiveness of Disclosure of 

Terms, Fees, and Other Expenses of 

Credit Card Plans 

How effective are current disclosures 

of rates, fees, and other cost terms of 

credit card accounts in conveying to 

consumers the costs of credit card 

plans? What further improvements in 

disclosure would benefit consumer 

cardholders at this point, and what costs 

would be incurred in providing such 

disclosures? 

(c) The Adequacy of Protections Against 

Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices or 

Unlawful Discrimination Relating to 

Credit Card Plans 

Do unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts 

and practices, or unlawful 

discrimination, still exist in the credit 

card market, and if so, in what form and 

with what frequency and effect? How 

might such conduct be prevented and at 

what cost? 

(d) Whether implementation of the 

CARD Act has affected (i) the cost and 

availability of credit, particularly with 

respect to non-prime borrowers; (ii) the 

use of risk-based pricing; or (iii) credit 

card product innovation? 

What additional evidence exists since 

the publication of the Bureau’s prior 

report with respect to the impact of the 

CARD Act on the factors listed above? 

Has the impact of the CARD Act on 

these factors changed over the past two 

years? 

(e) Online Disclosures 

Certain disclosures, including 

disclosures mandated by the CARD Act, 

are provided to consumers through their 

periodic billing statements. However, 

the Bureau’s prior study found that most 

consumers who make on-line payments 

do not access their monthly statement 

and instead use online portals which do 

not contain these disclosures. This 

reflects a more general challenge of 

translating regulations related to 

disclosures largely written for a paperand-pencil world into the modern 

electronic world. How do card issuers 

ensure that consumers using different 

channels, including mobile, receive 

effective disclosures both at the point of 

application and in managing existing 

accounts? 

(f) Rewards Products 

The Bureau’s prior study observed 

that rewards play an important part in 

consumers’ decisions to apply for a card 

but that consumer awareness of rewards 

terms appears to be declining. Rewards 

offers can be highly complex, with 

detailed rules regarding the eligibility 

for sign-on bonuses, the value of earned 

points, the rate at which they are 

earned, and the rules governing their 

forfeiture. Are rewards disclosures being 

made in a clear and transparent 

manner? Do consumers understand 

these offers in applying for rewards 

cards? What further improvements in 

disclosure would benefit consumer 

cardholders at this point, and what costs 

would be incurred in providing such 

disclosures? 

(g) Grace Periods 

The Bureau’s prior study observed 

that for consumers, who do not pay 

their balance in full each month, a key 

determinant of their cost of credit is the 

grace period and that disclosing the 

complex rules governing the availability 

of a grace period is quite challenging. 

Are grace period limitations being 

disclosed in a clear and transparent 

manner? Do consumers understand the 

limitations? What further improvements 

in disclosure would benefit consumer 

cardholders at this point, and what costs 

would be incurred in providing such 

disclosures? 

(h) Add-On Products 

Credit card issuers market or have 

marketed various ‘‘add-on’’ products to 

card users, including debt protection, 

identity theft protection, credit score 

monitoring, and other products that are 

supplementary to the actual extension 

of credit. The Bureau has found through 

its supervisory and enforcement work 

that these products are frequently sold 

in a manner that is unfair, abusive, or 

deceptive. To what extent are card 

issuers continuing to market or permit 

third parties to market add-on products? 

What actions have issuers taken to 

prevent unfair, abusive, or deceptive 

marketing practices? What harmful 

practices persist regarding add-on 

products? 

(i) Fee Harvester Cards 

Some card issuers charge upfront fees 

that exceed 25% of a card’s initial credit 

limit, but those practices have been held 

not to be covered by the CARD Act 

because a portion of the fees are paid 

prior to account opening. What is the 

prevalence and magnitude of 

application fees or other fee harvesting 

practices in connection with account 

opening? 

(j) Deferred Interest Products 

The Bureau’s prior report found that 

deferred interest products—purchases 

which retroactively assess and charge 

interest if the balance is not paid in full 

by a specific date—can end up costing 

a significant segment of vulnerable 

consumers sizable amount of money 

and that it is unclear whether those 

consumers understand the risks entailed 

or how they are affected when they are 

retroactively assessed interest. At the 

same time, the Bureau found that even 

among subprime consumers, a majority 

of consumers do obtain interest-free 

financing through deferred interest 

programs and that it is unclear what 

alternatives are available to these 

consumers. Do consumers who use 

deferred interest promotions understand 

the risk of being charged retroactive 

interest? What is the impact on 

consumers who are assessed such 

retroactive interest? What alternatives 

are available to these consumers? 

(k) Debt Collection 

The collection of past due amounts on 

credit accounts is an important part of 

any credit system but also an area 

fraught with risks to consumers. The 

Bureau seeks to better understand debt 

collection practices within the credit 

card industry. What practices are used 

to minimize losses from delinquent 

customers prior to chargeoff and with 

what results? What practices are used to 

secure recoveries post charge off and 

with what results? To what extent do 

card issuers use third-party contingency 

collection agencies for collections of 

accounts and how are such 

relationships managed? To what extend 

do card issuers sell charged off accounts 

to debt buyers and on what terms and 

with what restrictions? 

(l) Ability To Pay 

The CARD Act requires issuers to 

assess a consumer’s ability to pay before 

opening a credit card account or 

increasing a credit line. The Bureau 

seeks to better understand how ‘‘ability 

to pay’’ standards are being 

implemented in determining whether to 

approve an application, the amount of 

credit to extend initially, and whether to 

increase a credit line. How are card 

issuers determining whether applicants 

for a credit card have sufficient income 

or assets to cover an extension of new 

credit? How are card issuers making that 

determination in connection with the 

consideration of credit line increases? 

How do these standards and practices 

affect consumer access to credit and 

consumer outcomes with credit card 

products? 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1616(a), (b). 

Dated: March 16, 2015. 

Christopher D’Angelo, 

Chief of Staff, Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection. 

[FR Doc. 2015–06351 Filed 3–18–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P 


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