CFPB releases annual college credit card report

Federal Issues CFPB Credit Cards

On October 8, the CFPB released its annual report to Congress on college credit card agreements. The report was prepared pursuant to the CARD Act, which requires credit card issuers to submit to the Bureau the terms and conditions of any agreements they make with colleges, as well as certain organizations affiliated with colleges. The Bureau cited data from 2019 showing that (i) the number of college credit card agreements, as well as the number of open accounts under these agreements, “continues a general trajectory of decline,” which is anticipated to continue into 2020; (ii) payments by issuers to the educational or affiliated entities remain stable overall; and (iii) agreements with alumni associations continue to dominate the market based on most metrics. The report also highlighted a statement issued by the Bureau in March, which was intended to temporarily provide more flexibility and reduce administrative burdens on credit card issuers (covered by InfoBytes here). The complete set of credit card agreement data collected by the Bureau can be accessed here.