The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has released detailed customer complaint data from June 1, 2012 through June 12, 2012 since it began accepting complaints back in July of 2011. Interestingly enough, Capital One Financial (COF) has the most complaints with 22% of the total complaints filed with the CFPB. Regardless of COF’s business practices, this small amount of data makes it clear that consumers are butting heads with the company.
Discover Financial Services (DFS) reported Q2 earnings this week and as Hedgeye Financials Sector Head Josh Steiner pointed out, the company put aside a $90 million legal reserve. “It should make investors question whether large hits could be in store for more complaint-heavy companies, like Capital One,” Steiner has noted.
The regulatory landscape for credit card companies will become increasingly difficult over the next year or two. That’s food for thought. Like many provisions within the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the CFPB’s ultimate endgame and purpose is nebulous and vague. Time will tell the how the CFPB will exert power onto companies like COF and DFS.
