CUNA Questions Cordray on Consumer Benefits

A trade association representing credit unions has taken Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray to task for insisting that recent regulatory changes resulted in better products and services for consumers.

Ryan Donovan, chief advocacy officer for the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), faulted a speech delivered by Cordray yesterday before the Consumer Federation of America by stating credit union members were not enjoying benefits that Cordray claimed to have created with his agency’s regulatory controls.

“Director Cordray told consumer advocates today that concerns raised by credit unions and others regarding the impact the bureau’s regulations have had on the availability of financial products and services have proven false,” Donovan said. “We firmly dispute this conclusion. When a regulation makes it more difficult or more expensive for a credit union to serve its member-owner, the regulation has failed credit union members. When credit unions stop offering products because of regulation, leaving consumers’ only option large banks and less regulated non-bank providers, the regulation has failed consumers.”

Donovan added that the CFPB does not seem interested in making life easier for credit unions.

“There is no doubt it is well within their authority to exempt not-for-profit, member-owned credit unions from their regulations,” he continued. “But, the director and his staff have been very reluctant to use this authority, and their reluctance is costing consumers fuller access to safe and affordable financial services provided by financial institutions they own.”