Robin's Story & Andrew's Story: A New Bureau to Protect Consumers

Posted by White House

On July 21, 2010 President signed the Wall Street Reform bill into law. One part of that law created the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to protect and empower American consumers with the strongest consumer protections in history.

Elizabeth Warren, who is leading efforts to get the Bureau up and running, recently announced their new website and today, she'd like you to meet Robin Fox, a 7th grade science teacher from Rome, GA, and Andrew Giordano, a retired Vietnam veteran from Locust Point, MD -- a couple of Americans whose stories illustrate some of the unfair practices people have encountered and how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will work to prevent it from happening again.

Watch their stories:

Robin's Story: Arbitrary Rate Increases on Credit Cards

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will enforce the Credit CARD Act, which President Obama signed in 2009 to ban credit card issuers from arbitrarily raising rates on existing balances and other unfair practices. The CFPB will also be responsible for updating the credit card rules moving forward.

Andrew's Story: Unexpected Overdraft Fees

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will examine big banks to ensure that they are following the rules that now require banks to give consumers a real choice of whether to join overdraft protection programs for ATM and debit card transactions. The CFPB will update those rules to respond to changes in the marketplace over time.

Visit ConsumerFinance.gov to learn more about the Bureau and submit suggestions.