Consumer Complaints: CFPB Analysis of 2023

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).

2.  Geographic location

Consumers across all U.S. states and territories submitted complaints, with the most complaints being submitted from these five states:

3.  Special populations

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.

Company Review and Response to Complaints

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:

• Completeness: Addressing all issues raised by the consumer, including providing relevant documentation.
  
• Accuracy: Selecting the appropriate response categories (e.g., “closed with monetary relief,” “closed with non-monetary relief,” “closed with explanation,” and “administrative response”) in written responses provided to consumer(s), including (when appropriate) description of non-monetary or monetary relief provided.
• Timeliness: Providing responses within fifteen (15) calendar days of the complaint being sent to the company, or, if a complaint cannot be closed within that time, providing an interim explanation to the consumer and the CFPB within fifteen (15) calendar days followed by a final response within sixty (60) calendar days of the complaint being sent to the company.

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.