CFPB Financial Literacy Report

Financial literacy and financial education are important to the National Credit Union Association (NCUA). NCUA has a financial literacy and education resource center landing page on its website that is designed to “help credit unions promote financial literacy to assist their members with making smarter financial decisions.” As NCUA states on that landing page, promoting financial literacy reinforces the Federal Credit Union Act: “credit unions were organized for the purpose of promoting thrift among its members and creating a source of credit for provident or productive purposes.”

Late last month, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) released its Financial Literacy Annual Report for fiscal year 2019 (2019 Report). The 2019 Report was the CFPB’s seventh such report, and it covered the CFPB’s financial literacy activities during the 2019 fiscal year and its strategies to improve the financial literacy of consumers. The 2019 Report, like the six annual reports that preceded it, is required by the Dodd-Frank Act. See, 12 USC § 5493(d)(4).

The CFPB’s focus on financial literacy and financial education arises out of the Dodd-Frank Act:

“One of the Bureau’s five statutory objectives is to ensure that ‘consumers are provided with timely and understandable information to make responsible decisions about financial transactions,’ and one of the Bureau’s statutory functions is ‘conducting financial education programs.'” See, 2019 Report at 4.

The 2019 Report initially discussed some of the highlights of the CFPB’s financial literacy and financial education work in 2019:

 

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