Key Findings and Insights from Over One Million Complaints
KPMG Insights:
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April 2024
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issues publishes the annual Consumer Response Report highlighting analysis of 2023 consumer complaints.
The CFPB reports receipt of nearly 1.7 million complaints, forwarding almost 1.35 million of those complaints (approximately 81 percent) to companies for review and response while referring another 6 percent to other regulators. The CFPB highlights:
The consumer complaint findings include analysis by:
Of the total 2023 complaints received, the report notes that 96 percent of all complaints were related to credit or consumer reporting, debt collection, credit card, checking or savings accounts, or mortgages (as shown in the figure below). In comparison to complaints received in 2022, complaints related to credit or consumer reporting, credit cards, and checking or savings accounts increased by 30 percent or greater, while the volume of debt collection and mortgage complaints decreased slightly.
Note: Though small in total volume, notable increases in complaints within product categories include general purpose credit cards (76 percent), certificates of deposit (96 percent), and savings accounts (80 percent).
Consumers across all U.S. states and territories submitted complaints, with the most complaints being submitted from these five states:
State | # of reports (per 100K population) |
---|---|
Georgia | 1,166 |
Florida | 1,018 |
Washington D.C. | 980 |
Delaware | 912 |
Nevada | 894 |
Servicemembers. Servicemembers, veterans, and military families (collectively, “servicemembers”) providing their servicemember affiliation submitted 84,700 complaints (5.1 percent of the total complaints received by the CFPB). When compared to all complaints from all consumers, servicemembers submitted a lower rate of complaints related to credit or consumer reporting, but higher rates related to all other types of products and services.
Older Consumers (Age 62 or Older). Self-identified older consumers (those age 62 and older) submitted 332,400 complaints (20 percent of total complaints received by the CFPB). When compared to complaints from consumers below age 62, older consumers submitted a lower rate of complaints related to credit or consumer reporting, but higher rates related to credit card, check or savings accounts, debt collection, and mortgages.
The report notes forwarding complaints to more than 3,400 companies, requiring: 1) Review of the information provided within the complaints, 2) Communication with the consumer(s) (when needed), and 3) Determination of actions to be taken and provision of written responses to both the CFPB and the consumer(s). Regulators monitor complaint responses by companies, with evaluation based on:
The CFPB states that companies closed approximately 20 percent of complaints within the first 15 days and that nearly all (99.6 percent) were closed within the final response period of 60 days.
Note: The CFPB encourages companies to use complaints as “indicators for potential product or service weaknesses” and to integrate complaint information into their institutional processes in order to detect issues early and quickly address them.
Consumer Complaints: CFPB Analysis of 2023
Key Findings and Insights from Over One Million Complaints
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