Every company that has been in business for any length of time has customer complaints. It’s just the nature of consumers. However, when it comes to collections, not only are there more complaints than a regular business but when the complaint is submitted via the CFPB complaint portal, the company is required to answer them. Ignoring a consumer complaint in a collections matter could result in action from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
However, consumer complaints also provide insight into customer satisfaction. With the ease of use of the CFPB complaint database, you can look for trends in customer complaints and use that information to target improvements within your company.
The CFPB’s complaint database was launched in 2012. It was created to allow consumers another platform to voice their complaints against a company about a financial product or service. It was also created to provide the CFPB insights into the problems consumers were having in the marketplace and to help the CFPB regulate consumer financial products and services.
Complaints are published after the company responds confirming a commercial relationship with the consumer, or after 15 days, whichever comes first. It is important to know that the CFPB does not verify the allegations in the complaints.
The CFPB accepts complaints from consumers on financial products or services. If a consumer is not sure if their situation is an actual ‘complaint’ the CFPB has helpful tools on their website to help consumers determine if they have a complaint.
Consumers can choose nine products, and dozens of sub-products to help categorize their complaints. The main products include:
While many of the entries into the CFPB’s complaint database are valid complaints against a company, many are just requests for information or verification of a debt from a company. So merely looking at the number of complaints filed against a company is not necessarily representative of actual complaints.
The CFPB provides a workflow showing the typical process for what happens after a complaint is submitted.
Your compliance management system should contain a process for responding to consumer complaints. It is also a best practice to have a field within your complaint entry process to identify where the complaint came from, for example, the CFPB, phone, letter, email, website, chat, etc. In addition to the consumer, account, and complaint details, your complaint process should also contain information on how your company handled the complaint, including who worked on it, the timeline, and the outcome.
The CFPB has provided a Company Portal Manual for companies to use when responding to complaints in the consumer complaint database. Section 1.3 of the manual lays out the nine-step complaint process, beginning with the consumer’s submission of the complaint, and continuing through the final publishing of the complaint and the company’s response:
Source: CFPB Company Portal Manual
The CFPB provides public access to the complaints database through their website. Navigate to the “Data & Research” tab, and then click on “Consumer Complaint Database”. There are several ways to access the data, you can download the entire database or download a portion of the database.
You can also perform an interactive search right on their website, which also allows for filtering by product, sub-product, date range, state, zip code, and company name. You can also choose to view only those complaints that contain the consumer’s narrative. Once you have entered in your information, you can choose to view in a map view, graphical trends, or a list of the complaints.
For the example below, I chose:
PRODUCT: Debt Collection
SUB-PRODUCT: Credit Card Debt
DATE RANGE: 1/1/2020 – 10/2/2020
Source: CFPB Complaint Database
There is a goldmine of information in the complaint database, and it is free to use for anyone. Here are just a few of the ways a financial institution can utilize the database (outside of replying to your own complaints):
Consumer complaints are a window into your financial institution’s interactions with your consumers. They should be used to identify places that need improvement. Having a thorough and organized complaint response process will allow you to respond to complaints quickly and ensure a complaint isn’t lost in the shuffle.
At NeuAnalytics, we provide solutions built in compliance to ensure your company can handle any potential complaints in a timely and organized manner. We offer additional services and platforms that can also monitor your third-party vendors and your collections process, ensuring you are operating in a compliant and regulated manner. Please contact our team of experts to learn more about how NeuAnalytics can make a difference for you.