WASHINGTON—When it comes to issues with their credit cards, consumers are most concerned about late fees and credit report problems due to confusing payment processing schedules and difficulty disputing bill inaccuracies.
That is the finding from the CFPB’s latest monthly consumer complaints snapshot, which highlights credit card complaints. The report also noted that the big bank issuers received the majority of the complaints.
“Credit cards are an important financial tool for over half of the adults in this country,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray in a statement. “It is important for consumers to be able to control how their payments are applied and to have clear information about their rights as cardholders. The Bureau will continue to work to protect people as they are using credit cards.”
The CFPB stated that problems making payments is the primary issue many consumers complained about, representing 16% of credit card-related complaints.
“Consumers who complained about billing issues frequently mention that they are charged surprise late fees because the company did not make it clear that payments would be not credited the day the payment was made,” the Bureau stated.
The CFPB explained that consumers reported experiencing frustration and confusion when they attempted to dispute charges on their credit card bills.
“Many consumers complained that they did not have clear information on the amount of time they had to dispute charges they believed were wrong. Others complained that they were not made aware that their credit card company would not assist them in a dispute with a merchant,” the CFPB said.
Seven percent of consumer credit card complaints were about accounts being closed by credit card companies without advance warning.
“In the majority of these situations, the company stated that the account closure occurred because of suspected fraud on the card. Consumers said they were often not informed by the credit card company of the potential fraud on their cards before they were deactivated,” the agency said.
Citibank, Capital One, GE Capital Retail, and JPMorgan Chase accounted for nearly 60% of credit card complaints submitted to the Bureau between May and July 2015. Of these companies, Citibank received 708 complaints during this time period, which was more than one hundred more complaints than the second most complained about company, Capital One.