CFPB Seeks Input for Campus Card Guide (Jan. 15, 2015)
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is creating a guide to help colleges evaluate institutions that offer financial accounts to students—and the CFPB is seeking input in devising the document. The “Safe Student Account Scorecard” will help colleges obtain information about fees, features and sales tactics of various student-focused financial products before agreeing to a sponsorship or allowing a product to be marketed on campus. The agency has composed a draft of the Scorecard and issued a Request for Information seeking comment from the public—including students and parents—along with colleges and financial institutions.
“Because of the influence schools may have on the financial products students choose, we are working to arm them with the information they need to negotiate safe and affordable products for students,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. Campus prepaid and debit cards—often used as a delivery mechanism for financial aid—have been on the rise in recent years. Meanwhile, campus credit card programs have declined following 2009 regulations that require public reporting of credit card programs. Campus credit card agreements have declined by 70 percent since those laws took effect, according to the CFPB. The rise of on-campus debit and prepaid products—40 percent of college students attend a school with debit or prepaid agreements—has drawn scrutiny from the CFPB, which last month called for greater transparency from colleges and financial institutions when they enter into agreements to offer such products to students.
The CFPB will be accepting input on the draft of the Scorecard until March 16, 2015. The RFI can be found on the agency’s Website here. Comments may be submitted using the Federal eRulemaking Portal; email: [email protected] and include Docket No. CFPB-2015-0001 in the subject line of the email; or by mail: Monica Jackson, Office of the Executive Secretary, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20552.
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