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Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized a rule that will give consumers greater rights, privacy, and security over their personal financial data. The rule requires financial institutions, credit card issuers, and other financial providers to unlock an individual’s personal financial data and transfer it to another provider at the consumer’s request for free. Consumers will be able to more easily switch to providers with superior rates and services.

The Bank Policy Institute (“BPI”) has issued its comment on the Federal Functional Regulators’ (the OCC, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the FDIC, and the National Credit Union Administration) notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”) to modernize financial institutions’ anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing (“AML/CFT”) programs (“Comment”). The agencies’ NPRM, on which we blogged here, is consistent with FinCEN’s similar and earlier AML/CFT modernization proposal (“FinCEN’s NPRM”), on which we blogged here (please also see our podcast on these regulatory proposals here).

In March 2023, we discussed the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) aimed at making it easier for consumers to cancel recurring subscriptions and memberships. The proposed rule was part of the FTC’s review of its Negative Option Rule, which sought to broaden its scope. Publication of the NPRM resulted in more than 16,000 comments from consumers, federal and state government agencies, consumer groups, and trade associations.

Staying ahead in collections operations is vital for maintaining a healthy bottom line. Automation technologies are reshaping the landscape by bringing unparalleled efficiency, speed, and accuracy to collection processes, allowing financial institutions to effectively manage their portfolios while reducing the burden of human error.

A data breach affecting debt collection agency Financial Business and Consumer Solutions (FBCS) has affected telecom giant Comcast Cable Communications. FBCS says threat actors breached its network between February 14 and February 26, 2024, stole personal, account, and government-issued information, and deployed ransomware.

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