ICYMI: CBA Convenes Thought Leaders for Formative Discussions at Its Washington Forum

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) last week hosted top industry experts and thought leaders at its 2023 Washington Forum to discuss what’s happening and what’s to come from regulators related to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Section 1033, credit card late fees, and more. This year’s featured speakers included:

• Lindsey Johnson, President and CEO, CBA
• Kelvin Chen, Senior Executive Vice President, Head of Policy, CBA
• Brian Fritzsche, Vice President, Associate General Counsel, CBA
• Kari Hall, Partner, Paul Hastings
• Andrew Smith, Partner, Covington
• Alan Wingfield, Partner, Troutman Pepper
• Dan Smith, President and CEO, Consumer Data Industry Association
• Melissa Baal Guidorizzi, Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Suttcliffe LLP
• Shelby Schwartz, Counsel, Mitchell Sandler LLC
• Natalie Talpas, Senior Vice President, Head of Retail Digital and Emerging Payments Strategy, PNC Bank, N.A.
• Ling Ling Ang, PhD, Managing Director, National Economic Research Associates (NERA) Economic Consulting
• Brian Johnson, Managing Director, Patomak Global Advisors
• Jehan Patterson, Counsel, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
• John Coleman, Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Suttcliffe LLP
• David Silberman, Senior Advisor, Financial Health Network; Senior Fellow, Center for Responsible Lending; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy; Lecturer on Law, Harvard University

Below are key excerpts as delivered from panelists on various issues. Kicking off this year’s Washington Forum, Lindsey Johnson, CBA President and CEO, emphasized the importance of industry experts convening on the top issues banks face in Washington, D.C.:

“CBA aims to be a voice for our members on anything that touches the consumer in the retail lending space. We’re very fortunate to have a great network of partners and experts who understand these issues, who are some of the brightest minds here in D.C. You really help CBA and our members break these issues down and better understand their impacts…as we continue to weigh in together.”

Andrew Smith, Partner at Covington, noted concern with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) approach in developing new rules around the Fair Credit Reporting Act:

“The issue that I'm really concerned about is what effect this has on this whole ecosystem that has grown up around the use of credit here… The statutory language is very clear and the court cases are very clear. And I don't think that the CFPB has the authority to overrule 30 years of court precedent with the stroke of a pen and say that something is consumer reporting information when the statute and the courts say not.”

Shelby Schwartz, Counsel at Mitchell Sandler LLC, shared her reaction and concerns related to the CFPB’s recent Section 1033 rulemaking:

“We've been operating for over a decade now in a very gray space with a very short statutory provision. And this [Section 1033 notice of proposed rulemaking] really does start to fill in some of the shading. I think that some of the concerns are that it doesn't it doesn't fill in all the shading…It doesn't really lay out 100 percent of the rules of the road. The timelines are also…going to be tough to implement, I think for some of the parts of the industry are maybe not going to really be fully able to make it work in the time provided, especially with the degree of uncertainty that's still left in the rulemaking.”

Natalie Talpas, Senior Vice President, Head of Retail Digital and Emerging Payments Strategy at PNC Bank, shared highlights on the CFPB’s recent Section 1033 rulemaking:

"I think we would like to see something a little more firm [in the final Section 1033 rule] as it relates to…obligations. It is very clear in terms of obligations for data providers to create this portal, have access to an Application Programming Interface (API), and enable that. But there is not a real clear obligation for a data aggregator to leverage that API when it is available."

Brian Johnson, Managing Director at Patomak Global Partners, noted concerns with the CFPB’s anticipated credit card late fee final rule:

“[The Bureau has] admitted in the rulemaking that those who never pay late fees are going to have higher costs [and it will] reduce access to on the margin consumers or perhaps reduce credit card benefits for all consumers. So those who are frequent late payers, as the Bureau defines them in the rules, make three or more late payments in a year. They are certainly going to benefit from a lower late payment fee. But it's a transfer of cost…so most consumers are going to be worse off as a result of the rule.”

Kelvin Chen, Senior Executive Vice President, Head of Policy at CBA, closed the event with a note on the growing political nature of the CFPB:

“Arguably, we now have a CFPB that is more coordinated with the White House in terms of messaging and calendaring, everything from the State of the Union to some of the timing of some of the releases.”

To watch each panel discussion that occurred during the 2023 Washington Forum, click HERE.