On October 8, 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) held a forum in Washington, D.C. on access to checking accounts. While the CFPB states that the purpose of the event was “to learn more about how the screening system works and how to improve the information and products that are available for consumers,” the event raised concerns within the banking industry, as the event took on issues such as overdraft protections, the reporting and use of credit scores, and assessing consumer credit risk. CFPB Director Richard Cordray’s opening remarks grouped these topics together, as Cordray explained that banks evaluate a consumer’s credit risk to determine the likelihood that a particular consumer may overdraw his or her account; this prompted some industry representatives to speculate that the CFPB may address deposit-advance products or overdraft features in an upcoming rulemaking. According to MoFo partner Don Lampe, “One of the things you could read between the lines here is that this could be a preview to the rule that’s expected soon on short-term, small-dollar lending. The question is whether that rulemaking is going to cover deposit-advance products or overdraft features” because grouping overdraft protections and credit concerns together in his remarks could be Cordray’s “way of saying overdraft is nothing but credit.”
