On October 5, the CFPB released a notice that they intend to publish a list of companies that provide free access to credit scores.
Financial institutions, credit card issues, and other companies may offer consumers free access to a credit score giving consumers an important tool to manage their financial lives. The Office of Financial Education of the CFPB would like to highlight and build consumer awareness of this practice.
The CFPB believes than enabling consumers to see their credit scores can be a first step towards consumers learning about their credit history, checking their credit report, and ultimately making decisions about credit that serve their own financial and life goals.
If you provide free credit scores, and want to be included on the list (although the notice does not describe how the list will be provided), you must submit your information as described in the notice. Inclusion on the list is optional (think free advertising), and not a requirement.
If your credit union is a credit card issuer, fits the criteria outlined below, and would like to be included in the list the Bureau plans to publish, contact us by following the instructions included in this Notice for how to submit your comments. To be included in this list, you must meet the following criteria:
- Be a credit card issuer
- Offer existing customers (at least some, but not necessarily all) the ability to obtain free of charge a credit score which either your company, or other lenders use, for account origination, portfolio management, or for other business purposes.
- Offer this access to a credit score on a continuous basis, as opposed to on a time-limited or promotional basis, and periodically update the score. You may include other information you think is relevant for consumers reading the public list to understand whether the service applies to them. Depending on the information received, the Bureau may decide to include, or not to include, some or all of this information in the list.
By responding to this Federal Register Notice (FRN) you are stating that you meet the criteria and are consenting to include the name of your company in a public list of credit card issuers offering free access to credit scores to their existing customers. The Bureau reserves the right to conduct due diligence on a company’s assertions about meeting the criteria stated in this notice. Your response to this FRN and inclusion in this public list are completely voluntary, and your choice to do so, or refrain from doing so, is not connected to supervisory activity by the Bureau.
If your credit union is not a credit card issuer, but offers existing consumer customers free access to a credit score, fits the criteria outlined below, and would like to be included in a list for companies in other markets, you may contact us as well. Depending on the feedback received, the Bureau may decide to expand the scope of the initial list of companies offering free credit scores beyond credit card issuers to companies in some other markets, include such companies in a future separate list, or decide not to publish a list of companies in other markets offering this service.
To be considered for this potential list, you must meet the following criteria:
- Offer or provide a consumer financial product or service;
- Offer your existing customers (at least some, but not necessarily all) the ability to obtain free of charge a credit score which either your company, or other lenders use, for account origination, portfolio management, or for other business purposes.
- Offer this access to a credit score on a continuous basis, as opposed to on a time-limited or promotional basis, and periodically update the score.
You may include other information you think is relevant for consumers reading the public list to understand whether the service applies to them. Depending on the information received, the Bureau may decide to include, or not to include, some or all of this information in the list.
