CFPB Reports on Complaints from Military Community, Prepaid Remains Low
The CFPB has released its annual report on complaints received by the agency from military servicemembers, veterans and their families. The fourth annual Servicemembers Year in Review analyzed more than 19,000 complaints received from the military community in 2015—up 13 percent over the previous year. Debt collection continues to be a particularly troublesome area, comprising 46 percent of all military complaints. Notably, servicemembers, veterans and their families complained about debt collection at nearly twice the rate of the general population who submitted complaints to the bureau. Among contributing factors to debt collection issues in the military community were identity theft while deployed and collectors attempting to collect medical debts that VA health care, Medicare/Medicaid or other insurance should have paid. Mortgages were the second-most common complaint topic, comprising 15 percent of military complaints in 2015, the report found. Credit reporting ranked third, at 11 percent.
Prepaid comprised just 1 percent of complaints (about 300) from the military community—mirroring the tiny fraction of complaints from the general public that relate to prepaid. The most common prepaid-related complaints were unauthorized transactions—at 35 percent of prepaid complaints—along with managing, opening or closing an account, at 31 percent. Frauds or scams related to prepaid products comprised 20 percent of prepaid complaints, while 6 percent of prepaid complaints dealt with difficulties adding money to a prepaid card. Fees comprised 5 percent of prepaid complaints, and advertising, marketing and disclosures were the focus of 3 percent. The remaining 0.4 percent dealt with overdraft, savings or rewards features on prepaid products.
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