Consumer complaint received 2025-06-30 00:00:00
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease — Problem with fees charged
Company: Exeter Finance, LLC.
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
I am an Exeter Finance auto loan customer residing in XXXX. When I made my monthly payment for XX/XX/year>, I received a notification that read : XXXX XX/XX/year>, debit card payments will incur a third-party transaction fee. ACH will remain a free payment option. This refers to a {$3.00} fee applied to each debit card transaction. 

I called Exeter Finance and spoke with XXXX representatives, including a supervisor, who claimed the fee was legal because it is being charged by a third-party payment processor. However, this explanation is misleading and does not make the fee lawful. Exeter remains responsible for ensuring its payment practices comply with applicable consumer protection laws, regardless of whether a third-party processor is involved. 

This {$3.00} debit card fee violates several important regulations. First, it violates the federal XXXX Amendment ( 15 U.S.C. 1693o2 ), which caps debit card interchange fees and prohibits merchants from passing these fees on to consumers. Under the XXXX Amendment, debit card issuers may charge merchants a capped processing fee ( typically around {$0.00} + 0.05 % + {$0.00} ), but merchantsincluding lenders and their payment vendorsmay not shift those fees to the consumer. 

Second, this practice violates card network rules ( XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX debit networks ), which explicitly prohibit XXXX merchants from adding a surcharge to a debit card transaction, even when the card is processed as credit. While these networks allow for a narrowly defined convenience fee, it is only permitted if ( 1 ) the fee is charged uniformly on all card types, including credit and debit ; ( 2 ) the amount is the same regardless of card ; and ( 3 ) it applies only to alternative payment channels ( such as online or phone payments ) when the standard method of payment is in-person. In Exeters case, the standard method of payment is already online, so this exception clearly does not apply. 

Third, the fee violates both XXXX  Consumer Collection Practices Act ( XXXX XXXX. XXXX ) and the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA, 15 U.S.C. 1692f ( 1 ) ). Under these laws, a creditor or debt collector may only impose a fee like this if ( a ) it is expressly authorized in the borrowers loan agreement, or ( b ) it is specifically permitted by statute. My loan agreement with Exeter Finance contains no clause authorizing this debit card transaction fee, and there is no statute that allows it. Therefore, the fee is unlawful. 

When I raised these legal concerns with the Exeter supervisor, she had no response and offered no resolution. I am now being forced to choose between paying an unlawful {$3.00} fee each month or using ACH, which requires sharing sensitive bank information I would prefer not to provide. This is both financially and personally burdensome, and it violates my rights under federal and XXXX  law. 

I respectfully request that the CFPB investigate this matter. Exeter Finance should be required to ( 1 ) remove the {$3.00} debit card fee from my account and the accounts of all similarly affected consumers, ( 2 ) refund any such fees already collected, and ( 3 ) bring all payment practices into full compliance with the XXXX XXXX, card network regulations, XXXX Consumer Collection Practices Act, and the FDCPA. 

Thank you for your time and attention to this issue.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation