Consumer Advisory

As a result of today’s order, Discover will pay approximately $200 million in restitution to more than 3.5 million consumers.

How will consumers be refunded?

Anyone affected by this order will automatically receive a credit to their account, or, if they’re no longer a Discover customer, they’ll receive a check in the mail or have any outstanding balance reduced by the amount of the refund.

Consumers don’t need to take any further action to receive their credit or check.

If you have questions about whether you are entitled to a refund, please contact Discover.

As with any time large numbers of consumers get refunds, scammers sometimes pop up. Watch out for anyone who tries to charge you, tries to get you to disclose your personal information, or asks you to cash a check and send a portion to a third party in order to “claim your refund.” It’s a scam. Call us at (855) 411-CFPB.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is issuing a consumer advisory today to all students expecting to receive scholarship and student loan proceeds onto – what appears to be – a school-endorsed debit card. We are also asking consumers to tell us about their experiences getting their financial aid funds.

Yesterday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, another banking regulator the CFPB works closely with, fined one of the largest providers of campus debit cards.

Many college students, especially those enrolled in community colleges or who live off-campus, receive scholarships, grants, and student loans that are for more than the cost of their tuition. These funds help them pay rent, get to and from school, and cover other costs, like textbooks. Many schools work with third-party financial companies to disburse these funds directly to students. Consumers should remember the following:

• You can’t be required to use a specific bank or card. There may be a financial institution that operates on your campus, but you generally can’t be required to use a specific account or card to access your student aid. If you have received a federal student loan, your school must provide a paper check or cash option.
• Consider choosing an account before arriving at school. Shop around, and don’t feel limited by the banks operating ATMs on or near campus. Some financial institutions don’t charge you for using any ATMs, and some will automatically reimburse you for fees charged for using an out-of-network ATM. Many institutions also provide a mobile phone app to remotely deposit paper checks.
• If your school offers it, sign up for direct deposit as soon as possible. If your school offers direct deposit, you may be able to provide the school with your account information in order to access your funds more quickly.

If you have a specific problem with your student checking account and need to resolve it, please file a complaint with CFPB. If you want to just share your experience with student checking accounts and debit cards, tell us your story and use the tag “financial aid.” We’ll also share what we learn with the Department of Education, who recently published a notice on this topic.

Ask CFPB if you have more questions about student checking account.

Share this post on Facebook and Twitter, and we look forward to hearing from you.

If you’re having trouble paying your mortgage, we can help you get connected to a HUD-approved housing counselor at no cost to you. The counselor can help you work with your servicer or lender to try to avoid foreclosure, organize your finances, understand your mortgage options, and find a solution that works for you.

Get foreclosure help.

How to spot a scam

Mortgage loan modification scams are designed to take your money by making a false promise of saving you from foreclosure. Scammers may:

• Ask you to pay high fees upfront to receive services,
• Promise to get you a loan modification,
• Ask you to sign over title to your property,
• Ask you to sign papers that you do not understand,
• Say you should start making payments to someone other than your servicer or lender,
• Claim to be conducting a “forensic audit,” or
• Tell you to stop making mortgage loan payments altogether.

Companies that offer mortgage relief services aren’t allowed to collect any fees until they give you a written offer from your servicer or lender that you decide is acceptable. A mortgage relief company must also tell you that:

• The company is not associated with the government;
• Your lender may not agree to modify your loan; and
• If the company tells you to stop paying your mortgage, that you can lose your home and damage your credit.

If you think you have been scammed

File a complaint online or call us at (855) 411-CFPB (2372) from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. ET, Monday-Friday.

Share this with #ForeclosureHelpIsFree

It can be hard for people to talk about finances, especially if they’re in trouble. Even if you’re not facing foreclosure yourself, please share a link to this advice with your networks using the hashtag #ForeclosureHelpisFree. You’ll never know who you might be able to help.

When you’re activating a new credit card, watch for “the pitch.”

When you call to activate a new credit card, you may be routed to representatives who try to sell you things like “credit protection” or “identity monitoring” to add to your account. These services, or “add-on products,” are additional, optional services that will cost you money. You don’t have to buy anything extra from the credit card company to activate your credit card. In some cases, the sales tactics may be high-pressure and confusing.

Some things to ask yourself when you’re deciding whether you want add-on products:

• Do you have enough information about the service to buy it?
• Is the cost worth the possible benefit?
• Do you understand whether you’d be eligible for the benefits of the service?

When you’re checking your monthly statement, watch for unfamiliar terms or fees.

Even if you don’t recall signing up to buy an extra service, be vigilant about checking your credit card statement for anything unfamiliar, including “add-on,” optional, fee-based products.

If you want to cancel these services

Call your credit card provider by using the number on the back of your card and ask to cancel them. You are not required to buy these optional services from your credit card provider.

What to do if this happens to you

If you find unfamiliar fees on your credit card statement, here’s what you should do:

• Call your credit card company using the phone number on the back of your card to try to resolve the problem. Tell the card company if you did not authorize the charge.
• Tell your story so that we can track what’s happening in the marketplace
• If you’re unable to resolve the issue, file a complaint with the CFPB
• Ask CFPB if you have more questions about credit cards.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has determined that Capital One marketed certain “add-ons” – fee-based services added to credit card accounts – in a way that violated federal law. As a result of enforcement action by the CFPB, Capital One agreed to automatically refund $140 million to 2 million Capital One customers.

Capital One customers: If you’re eligible for a refund and you have an open account, the refund will be automatically credited to your account. If you’re eligible but no longer have an account with Capital One, a check will be mailed to you. You should expect to receive your refund later this year. You don’t need to take any action to get your refund.

If you have questions about whether you are entitled to a refund, please contact Capital One.

Watch out for scammers claiming that they will get you a refund: When large numbers of consumers get refunds, scammers sometimes pop up. The scammer may charge you a fee or try to steal your personal information. If someone tries to charge you, tries to get you to disclose your personal information, or asks you to cash a check and send a portion to a third party in order to “claim your refund,” it’s a scam. Call us at (855) 411-CFPB.

You may know about the three biggest nationwide credit reporting companies: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. But did you know that there are other companies out there that may be providing reports on you that could be used to decide if you’re eligible for consumer financial, insurance, medical and other products?

Today the CFPB is posting a list of consumer reporting companies – companies that collect information and write reports that could be used to decide if you will be able to get credit, insurance, or a job. This list doesn’t cover every company in the industry. It’s a list of companies that have identified themselves as consumer reporting companies or provide consumers access to their consumer reports. (1) The list includes both the biggest nationwide credit reporting companies and a longer list of “specialty reporting companies.”

Specialty reporting companies focus on certain industries. Just like the three biggest nationwide credit reporting companies, specialty reporting companies collect and share information with creditors and other businesses. There are a lot of these companies on the list, so we’re also trying to give tips on which of them may be important to you. The list also has information about how you can get copies of your reports (see below).

So we encourage you to take a look at the list of companies and think about which ones might be reporting on you. It’s important to ask for your report from those companies so you can correct any mistakes or see whether anyone’s been trying to hijack your identity. For example, if you’re going to rent a new apartment or home, ask the landlord what tenant background company they use, if any.

You can access the list here. Keep the following in mind:

• You should check your reports from at least Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion every year, which you can do for free at AnnualCreditReport.com.
• The list includes information on companies that will provide free reports.
  • Just like the biggest credit reporting companies, there are nationwide specialty reporting companies, and they have to give you one free report every 12 months, upon request.
  • Additionally, consumer reporting companies will provide a free report “>if an adverse action has been taken against you based on information in your report or under other specific circumstances.
• You may not need to check with every single specialty company on the list. Many may not even have any information about you. But you may want to check with some or all of these companies:
  • If you were a victim of identity theft or think someone may have fraudulently cashed checks under your bank account;
  • Before applying for insurance;
  • Before applying for a lease;
  • If you’ve applied for a new job and your potential new employer asks for your written authorization to get a report.
  • The type of information collected may vary by the company and its specialty industry.
• You have to request the reports individually from each reporting company. Different companies collect information about different things: your medical records or payments, residential or tenant history, check-writing history, employment history, or insurance claims.

You’re welcome to read through the entire list top-to-bottom. We’ve also arranged it by specialty, and you can follow links from the first page to the appropriate section of the list. The list covers the following specialties:

• Nationwide Credit-Reporting Companies
• Specialty Reporting Companies:
• Check screening and check history
• Payday lending reports
• Auto and property insurance history
• Alternative/supplementary credit reports
• Utilities
• Rental history
• Medical
• Employment/background

If you have information about this list that you’d like to share with us – for example, if you work for a specialty reporting company that’s not on this list and should be – please email us at CFPB_Specialty_Reporting@cfpb.gov. For tips on keeping a good credit score and managing credit, explore Ask CFPB and the CFPB’s blog.

1. This list includes entities that have identified themselves as consumer reporting companies or particular types of consumer reporting companies or have indicated when they provide consumers access to their consumer reports. The list incorporates information from the companies’ own self-descriptions that has not been independently verified by the Bureau. It is not intended by the Bureau to be an all-inclusive list, nor does it reflect any determinations by the Bureau as to whether any particular entity is or is not subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act or any part thereof or complying with it. Furthermore, presence on or absence from the list does not indicate whether the consumer reporting company is subject to the CFPB’s supervisory authority.