CFPB reports on payment information furnishing

Federal Issues CFPB Credit Report Credit Furnishing Information Furnisher

On November 12, the CFPB released its latest quarterly consumer credit trends report on the prevalence of actual payment information in consumer credit reporting, concluding that actual payment furnishing for installment loan products has increased steadily between 2012 and 2020 while actual payment furnishing for credit card and retail revolving accounts has declined significantly. Specifically, the Bureau found that, between 2012 and 2020, shares of auto loan, student loan, and mortgage tradelines with actual payment amount information trended upward with over 90 percent of such tradelines reporting actual payment amount information by March 2020. In contrast, shares of revolving and credit card tradelines reporting actual payment data significantly declined over the same time period, falling from 95 percent to 71 percent and from 88 percent to 40 percent respectively. The Bureau also found that, for the nation’s largest credit card issuers, the decision to furnish actual payment information appears to be a binary one, with the issuers either furnishing actual payment information for nearly all accounts or not furnishing such information at all. As of 2020, only half of the nation’s largest credit card issuers furnished actual payment data for their accounts, down from 70 percent in 2013. The Bureau theorizes that the decline in reporting of actual payment data for both revolving and credit card accounts may reflect attempts to prevent account poaching by competitors.