Our new “CFPB Can Help” video is live

Please like and share our new video short (it's less than a minute) letting consumers know how the "CFPB can help." The CFPB, of course, is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, established as part of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.

We’ve posted a new video short (it’s less than a minute long) to our Facebook pages. It’s an introduction to the ways that the “CFPB Can Help!” consumers — from students to servicemembers and all the rest of you — with your financial questions. Please like and share this video intro to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (www.consumerfinance.gov), the first government agency with just one job: helping consumers navigate the tricks and traps of the financial marketplace.

For even more information about the CFPB, see our “Top Ten Ways the CFPB Can Help” page. A few recent highlights of the CFPB’s work include:

1) Last week the CFPB proposed a rule to ban banks and other financial firms from including small print bans on class actions in forced arbittation clauses that prevent consumers from having their day in court against financial tricks and traps. As soon as the rule is posted in the Federal Register, you’ll be able to send a supportive comment. CFPB director Richard Cordray:

“Signing up for a credit card or opening a bank account can often mean signing away your right to take the company to court if things go wrong,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Many banks and financial companies avoid accountability by putting arbitration clauses in their contracts that block groups of their customers from suing them. Our proposal seeks comment on whether to ban this contract gotcha that effectively denies groups of consumers the right to seek justice and relief for wrongdoing.”

2) Just two weeks ago the CFPB announced a new “Student Loan Payback Playbook,” to “provide borrowers with a personalized snapshot of repayment options:” its “Prototype Disclosures Outline Path to Affordable Payments for Borrowers Trying to Avoid Debt Distress.”

3) The CFPB has a new blog post explaining that you have the right to treated fairly in the financial marketplace. The blog describes a number of the CFPB’s efforts to prevent discrimination.

Oh, and all these materials are up on the CFPB’s new, mobile-friendly, re-designed website.

The idea of the CFPB needs no defense, only more defenders.

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Authors

Ed Mierzwinski

Senior Director, Federal Consumer Program, PIRG

Ed oversees U.S. PIRG’s federal consumer program, helping to lead national efforts to improve consumer credit reporting laws, identity theft protections, product safety regulations and more. Ed is co-founder and continuing leader of the coalition, Americans For Financial Reform, which fought for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, including as its centerpiece the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He was awarded the Consumer Federation of America's Esther Peterson Consumer Service Award in 2006, Privacy International's Brandeis Award in 2003, and numerous annual "Top Lobbyist" awards from The Hill and other outlets. Ed lives in Virginia, and on weekends he enjoys biking with friends on the many local bicycle trails.

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