Since 2011, the bureau has been charged with gathering credit card price and availability data from a sample of issuers and sharing that information with the public, it noted in the blog post. About 150 issuers submit information related to their largest credit card plans through the CFPB’s semi-annual TCCP Survey, and the agency publishes a report on its findings.

By expanding the scope of the information gathered from those large card issuers, the bureau said it seeks “to help people make choices on which credit cards fit their unique needs, rather than only major issuers’ largest cards.”

The largest issuers — which dominate the credit card market — have dozens of card offerings, each with various rates, fees and rewards, the CFPB noted.

Based on purchase volumes, JPMorgan Chase, American Express, Citicorp, Capital One and Bank of America were the biggest issuers of general purpose credit cards last year, according to industry publication The Nilson Report. The biggest card networks over which transactions flow are operated by Visa and Mastercard. All of these major players are under increasing scrutiny by the federal government and some Congress members intent on injecting more competition into the industry.

The CFPB noted these potential changes to this data collection — what it deems “modernizing” — could make it easier for consumers to shop for credit cards. Currently, for example, “card issuers do not have to disclose realistic rates based on someone’s credit worthiness and instead report the midpoints of broad ranges that are often meaningless to people trying to compare cards,” the agency noted in the post.

The move is yet another indication the CFPB is stepping up its watchdog role, particularly since Director Rohit Chopra began leading the agency last fall, and the emphasis on inducing competition among issuers in the credit card market is worth noting. 

Competition, an issue the Federal Trade Commission typically addresses, is something the CFPB has been sharply focused on, said Michael Guerrero, a partner at law firm Ballard Spahr who focuses on consumer protection issues and works with fintechs, large banks and card issuers, in a recent interview.

By Caitlin Mullen on Aug 24, 2022
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