CFPB Archives - Page 5 of 90 - Americans for Financial Reform

News Release: Broad Coalition Rejects Attempts to Gut Rule that Will Save Consumers Billions

Today, the Republican House majority revealed draft legislation to stop the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) overdraft rule from going into effect on October 1, 2025. The CFPB’s overdraft fee rule will reduce big bank overdraft fees from $35 per transaction down to $5, a move that will save the 23 million households in the United States that pay overdraft fees $5 billion annually, or $225 per family.

News Release: House Republicans Aim to Gut Measures Slashing Junk Bank Fees

The Republican-led House Financial Services Committee is devoting its first hearing of the new Congress to destroying a CFPB final rule that would slash a particularly abusive big-bank junk fee – overdraft charges – from $35 down to $5, which would save people $5 billion each year, or $225 per household.

Blog: What Will Elon Musk and His Tech Bros Do With Your Personal Data?

Last week, newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent granted billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team access to all of the federal government payments data. Musk’s team of tech bros are currently upending and disrupting the entire federal government without clear statutory authority or congressional approval.

News Release: Trump’s Chopra Firing Undermines CFPB’s Consumer Protection Mission

President Donald Trump today caved in to pressure from Wall Street and Big Tech and fired Rohit Chopra, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. During the campaign, Trump dangled measures like caps on credit card interest rates, Trump is now sacking someone whose years of work on behalf of consumers benefited families across the country.

In the News: He Expected Trump to Fire Him, but Rohit Chopra Still Has His Job ( The New York Times)

Christine Chen Zinner, a senior lawyer for Americans for Financial Reform, a progressive consumer advocacy group, said: “Those billions that Chopra got back for consumers meant less profit for the industry. If Trump really cared about everyday people, he’d keep Chopra around.”

News Release: New Proposal Would Stop Companies from Contracting Away Fundamental Rights

The CFPB’s proposal would prohibit financial companies from forcing consumers to surrender their fundamental rights in take-it-or-leave-it contracts that are used for everyday services such as bank accounts, credit cards, and payment apps on smart phones.

In the News: How might the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau change under Trump’s presidency? (NPR)

“Trump ran as a populist,” [said Christine Chen Zinner, senior policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform.] “So the Trump administration really has a decision to make about whether any of the populist rhetoric that came out of their campaign is meaningful or just a cover to let Wall Street take control of CFPB.”

In the News: Federal watchdog bans medical debt from credit reports

But imposing a blanket national ban would still be a major boon to consumers, Christine Chen Zinner, chief policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform, told Yahoo Finance. If it’s implemented, the rule would make it easier for Americans to dispute unfair or incorrect hospital bills by taking away the threat that their credit score could be harmed if the debt is sent to collections.

News Release: Medical Debt Rule Will Protect 15 Million People from Negative Credit Impacts

Today, the CFPB finalized a requirement to remove medical bills from most credit reports, prohibiting companies like Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian from sharing medical debt information with lenders and barring them from considering medical debts in their credit determinations.

Fact Sheet: The CFPB’s Medical Debt Rule Will Help 15 Million People

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) final rule to remove medical bills from most credit reports will prohibit credit reporting companies like Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian from sharing medical debt information with lenders as well as barring lenders from considering these medical debts in underwriting decisions.