CFPB Issues Guidance On Pay-By-Phone Fees

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently released a Compliance Bulletin regarding fees that companies may charge consumers when they pay by phone.

The Bulletin highlights certain practices related to phone payment fees that may violate the Dodd-Frank Act's prohibition on committing unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices (UDAAPs), including:

• Failing to disclose all available phone payment options when they carry materially different fees;
• Misrepresenting the available payment options or that a fee will be applied if a person pays by phone;
• Not disclosing that a phone fee will be added, or creating the impression that there is no service fee when, in fact, there is one; and