CFPB Director to Testify on Open Banking, Privacy to Senate Committee

U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra plans to tell Congress this week about a proposed measure to regulate open banking and small business lending data, Reuters reported Monday (April 25).

Chopra will also talk about the latest scrutiny of risks and questions regarding privacy and discrimination dominant tech conglomerates pose, given the large influence they have on the market.

In addition, Reuters wrote that Chopra will talk about the CFPB’s efforts to promote competition, including offering more initiatives to lower barriers to entry and make a bigger pool for firms competing for customers based on quality, price and service.

Earlier this month, PYMNTS wrote that the CFPB filed a lawsuit against TransUnion, along with two of the company’s subsidiaries and John Danaher, a longtime executive, for allegedly violating a 2017 law enforcement order regarding deceptive marketing about credit scores.

See also: CFPB Sues TransUnion, Sr Exec John Danaher, Alleging History of Deceptive Marketing

The CFPB said that TransUnion had disregarded the order’s requirements and kept using “deceitful” tactics to profit off customers, adding that TransUnion had violated other consumer financial protection laws.

“TransUnion is an out-of-control repeat offender that believes it is above the law,” Chopra said in the bureau’s press release. “I am concerned that TransUnion’s leadership is either unwilling or incapable of operating its businesses lawfully.”

TransUnion collects information on hundreds of millions of people, and the company reportedly claims to profile almost every credit active consumer in the U.S. The CFPB press release said TransUnion has struggled to keep the trust necessary to generate accurate credit reports, and that the accused parties broke the law by continuing to engage in deceptive conduct in marketing and sale of credit products.