Community banks should not be classified as data furnishers when data brokers obtain consumer information from a bank, ICBA told the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Background: Data brokers, including data aggregators, are firms that collect information about consumers—with or without permission from banks or consumers. The CFPB is seeking comments on whether data brokers should be subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
ICBA Comments: Responding to a CFPB request for information, ICBA said:
The bureau should hold data brokers and aggregators accountable under the FCRA by requiring disclosures to consumers about the information they collect and use.
However, because data brokers do not meet the definition of a consumer reporting agency, community banks do not qualify as furnishers.
Related Court Cases: The CFPB request for information comes as several courts consider how the FCRA applies to credit reporting agencies and data furnishers. In friend-of-the-court briefs in three related cases, ICBA and other groups have called on the courts to rule that the FCRA requires data furnishers and credit bureaus to investigate and remove factually inaccurate information, not to resolve debt-related legal disputes.
Outlook: The CFPB is in the process of selecting small-business representatives to serve on a Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act panel to, in part, determine which entities should be subject to FCRA. ICBA has recommended several community bankers to serve on the SBREFA panel.
