Kraninger Endorses Waiver for Automated Calls Made by Financial Institutions

CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger has asked the Federal Communications Commission to allow financial institutions, including credit unions, to make automated calls to consumers during the coronavirus crisis.

“Allowing financial institutions to make automated calls is one more way to maximize the outreach to ensure that consumers receive important and timely information,” Kraninger wrote this week in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

In sending the letter, Kraninger endorsed the petition filed by several financial trade groups, including CUNA and NAFCU, which have filed a petition with the FCC making the same request.

The automated calls could offer financial help to consumers as they attempt to deal with the pandemic’s fallout, she said. The calls could explain services that the financial institutions are offering, such as fee waivers, payment deferrals and forbearance.

She told Pai that the financial institutions still would be subject to Dodd-Frank sanctions, such as the prohibition of Unfair, Deceptive or Abusive Acts or Practices.

In filing their petition with the commission, the trade groups said that any calls made under such a waiver would be “informational calls made in good faith” and would not include attempts to collect a debt.

“These time-sensitive calls must be placed using automated means. Manual dialing does not achieve timely notification of consumers,” they said.