The Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group (WISPIRG) has released the first in a series of reports based on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) data.
The CFPB was created in 2010 as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The agency takes complaints from consumers on all things financial, including banks, credit unions, and a host of other financial products.
“I think if you asked consumers right now, they wouldn't know about this,” says Bruce Speight, who directs WISPRG. “We want to make sure they do.”
The new report, which is on banking complaints in Wisconsin, shows that U.S. Bancorp garnered the largest number of complaints in the state.
Nationally, 19,000 private banking complaints were made to the CFPB, the vast majority having to do with checking accounts. Speight says nearly 25 percent of complaints resulted in the consumer getting money back. He says the agency regularly posts data from complaints on an internet database.
Speight says the idea is simply more transparency and consumer education. “After all, five years ago when our economy went off a cliff there were many problems in the financial marketplace that weren't being addressed,” says Speight.
In Wisconsin, complaints about state-chartered banks or credit unions can also be made to the state Department of Financial Institutions.
