Opening Statement of Director Rohit Chopra before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

Chairman Brown, Ranking Member Scott, and Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to this hearing.

Since its creation, the CFPB has returned $20.7 billion to consumers through law enforcement activity and created unquantifiable returns for the over 205 million Americans and honest businesses harmed by the illegal practices that we have stopped. We are currently on track to save customers $20 billion in junk fees every year. We also expect to process over 2 million complaints this year.

Since my last report to Congress, we have advanced key initiatives on financial data, medical debt, and credit cards.

First, we are making major progress when it comes to financial privacy in an increasingly digital marketplace. The United States must lead when it comes to a competitive and innovative market. At the same time, this cannot be at the expense of unchecked surveillance as we have seen in China and other markets.

The CFPB is progressing towards finalizing open banking rules to develop data sharing standards and privacy protections when people transfer their financial data to competing companies. We finalized a key part of the framework last week, which will set the stage for finalizing the rest of the rule this fall.

We are also moving forward to propose a rule under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to restrict uses of certain sensitive data by data brokers, part of a broader government effort to protect our national security and servicemembers from countries of concern that might seek to purchase and exploit sensitive data on Americans.

While the CFPB is taking important steps on protecting financial data, it is critical that Congress act too. Since my last appearance, there have been reports that large financial firms like PayPal and JPMorgan Chase are planning to use sensitive data about people’s income and spending to fuel surveillance-based targeting and advertising. These plans to monetize sensitive financial transaction data are a reminder that the U.S. is slowly lurching toward more financial surveillance and even financial censorship.

We are eager to work with you to do more to protect against abuse and misuse of data, including by enshrining stronger protections into law. We also believe there are opportunities to advance legislation to accelerate open and decentralized banking in our country.    

Second, we’ve proposed a rule to prohibit the inclusion of medical bills in credit scores and credit reports. This will prevent debt collectors from using the credit reporting system to coerce patients to pay erroneous bills.

Lastly, we’re continuing to focus on the trillion-dollar credit card market. We closed a loophole exploited by large credit card companies, lowering most credit card late fees to $8. Credit card companies will still be able to penalize customers, and they will be able to charge a fee exceeding $8 if they can show their math.

We know there is more we must watch here. The CFPB is looking to protect people’s points and rewards from devaluation and bait-and-switch tactics. We’re taking steps to jumpstart more competition so that small banks and credit unions offering credit cards with lower rates can gain market share. All of these efforts will lead to billions of dollars in savings every year.

These are just some of the many initiatives the CFPB is pursuing, and areas we are watching, to ensure that our financial system is helping American families and businesses get ahead.

I have appeared before this Committee many times, and I’ve had a chance to meet with so many of you on the Committee on both sides of the aisle to talk about our work. I think there is much more we can do together to tackle problems that our country faces. Thank you and, I look forward to your questions.