FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
                                

CONTACT:  Jim Lardner at 202-466-1854
                     Jim@ourfinancialsecurity.org          

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has moved forward with important protections for consumers who send money to relatives and friends overseas. Under the terms of the CFPB’s final rule, the vast majority of so-called “remittance” transactions will include upfront disclosure of the exchange rate, the fees charged, and the actual sum of money passing through to the party on the receiving end. The rule also creates a complaint resolution procedure and makes remittance providers responsible for abuses committed by their agents; these provisions will make it far easier for consumers to get satisfaction when things go awry.

The CFPB resisted industry efforts to delay the rule and carve out large exemptions. The bureau agreed to limit the new requirements to companies engaged in at least 100 remittance payments a year. But the bureau rejected the industry’s proposed threshold of 6,000 transactions, which would have significantly reduced the reach of consumer protection. The rule will take effect, as previously announced, on February 7, 2013.

Total remittance payments from people working in the U.S. come to more than $400 billion each year; these hard-earned dollars are crucial to the wellbeing of countless families around the world. The CFPB’s action fulfills a mandate handed to the agency by section 1073 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.