Despite promises to “level the playing field,” the impact of nearly every Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule to date has made it more difficult and expensive for credit unions to serve their members. That’s what CUNA wrote to U.S. House Financial Services Committee leadership Monday a comprehensive, 18-page letter sent in advance of CFPB Director Richard Cordray’s semi-annual appearance before the committee this morning.

“Many credit unions have limited or eliminated certain financial products and services traditionally provided to their members as a direct result of the CFPB’s rules,” CUNA’s letter reads. “When a CFPB rule or action results in credit unions reducing or abandoning service offerings, consumers have not been protected; they have been stripped of the key market-based consumer protection that is access to credit union services. To put it bluntly: consumers lose when the CFPB keeps credit unions from serving them.”

CUNA cited examples such as CFPB’s international remittance transfer rule, the Truth in Lending Act-Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act integrated disclosures (TRID) rule and the pending Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting requirements, as regulations that remove services from credit union members.

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