The executive chairman of the Electronic Payments Coalition (EPC) said that a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) report showing problems with credit card rewards programs is “laughable.”
“The new report notes that the CFPB received 1,200 complaints last year involving credit card rewards,” wrote Richard Hunt, EPC’s executive chairman, in an op-ed. “In case you were wondering, there are about 336 million people in the U.S., and about 143 million own a rewards credit card.”
“The share of those who filed a complaint in 2023 is 0.0008%,” Hunt wrote. “To give you another frame of reference, there were 1.3 million complaints to the CPFB last year. The idea that people are encountering ‘numerous problems,’ and that credit card companies are doing a ‘bait and switch’ is numerically laughable.”
The CFPB said that “consumers tell the CFPB that (credit card) rewards are often devalued or denied even after the programs are met” in the report issued May 9.
“The CFPB will be looking for ways to protect people's points, stop bait-and-switch scams, and promote a fair and competitive market for credit card rewards,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra in a press release.
Hunt said that “the CFPB has proven if they can’t find problems, they’ll make them up.”
He wrote that the CFPB report was released as part of the effort to pass S. 1838, the “Credit Card Competition Act.”
That legislation would require banks to offer merchants at least two network options, one of which cannot be Visa or Mastercard, for processing credit card transactions.
The bill is currently sponsored by U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Jack Reed (D-R.I.)
David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) told St. Louis Reporter in April that the bill would amount to “forcing companies to charge a certain amount for any service” which would result in “less of that service.”
Williams said that the bill would result in credit card companies tightening eligibility standards for cards so fewer people will have access to credit cards, or only those with the highest credit scores would be approved for new cards.
All of this, Williams said, could threaten credit rewards programs which, according to a report from airline trade group Airlines for America, generated $23 billion in economic activity in 2022.
“It will take consumers learning their rewards programs may disappear to stop this madness,” wrote Hunt.
The EPC represents payment card networks, financial institutions, and other organizations involved in electronic payments. The EPC advocates for policies that support the interests of its members, including issues related to interchange fees and payment security.