CFPB’s database reveals big complaints about big banks

Thousands of Americans are using the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s public Consumer Complaints Database to file disputes with their banks. Here’s a breakdown of the 19,000 grievances consumers have lodged against their banks and credit unions since the database was created.

A report from the US PIRG Education Fund analyzes consumers’ complaints and the banks were the worst offenders, breaking the data down state by state. The report, “Big Banks, Big Complaints: CFPB’s Database Gets Real Results for Consumers,” focuses specifically on the complaints consumers have about bank accounts and services.

The CFPB’s stated mission is to “identify dangerous and unfair financial practices, to educate consumers about these practices, and to regulate the financial institutions that perpetuate them.” To help accomplish these goals, the CFPB created the Consumer Complaint Database, a public repository for grievances files against financial institutions, and how those financial institutions responded.

Since the database for banking was launched in March 2012, the CPFB has recorded nearly 19,000 complaints by consumers.

Checking accounts were by a large margin the most common cause of complaints for consumers. They were the subject of 78% of all complaints filed. Difficulties with opening, closing or managing accounts were the most frequently cited issues consumers had with banking, followed by problems with deposits and withdrawals.

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