82_FR_5552 82 FR 5541 - Compliance Bulletin 2016-03: Detecting and Preventing Consumer Harm From Production Incentives

82 FR 5541 - Compliance Bulletin 2016-03: Detecting and Preventing Consumer Harm From Production Incentives

BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 11 (January 18, 2017)

Page Range5541-5543
FR Document2017-01021

The Bureau recognizes that many supervised entities may choose to implement incentive programs to achieve business objectives. When properly implemented and monitored, reasonable incentives can benefit consumers and the financial marketplace as a whole. This bulletin compiles guidance that has previously been given by the CFPB in other contexts and highlights examples from the CFPB's supervisory and enforcement experience in which incentives contributed to substantial consumer harm. It also describes compliance management steps supervised entities should take to mitigate risks posed by incentives.

Federal Register, Volume 82 Issue 11 (Wednesday, January 18, 2017)
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 18, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5541-5543]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-01021]


=======================================================================
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BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION


Compliance Bulletin 2016-03: Detecting and Preventing Consumer 
Harm From Production Incentives

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

ACTION: Compliance Bulletin.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Bureau recognizes that many supervised entities may choose 
to implement incentive programs to achieve business objectives. When 
properly implemented and monitored, reasonable incentives can benefit 
consumers and the financial marketplace as a whole.
    This bulletin compiles guidance that has previously been given by 
the CFPB in other contexts and highlights examples from the CFPB's 
supervisory and enforcement experience in which incentives contributed 
to substantial consumer harm. It also describes compliance management 
steps supervised entities should take to mitigate risks posed by 
incentives.

DATES: The Bureau released this Compliance Bulletin on its Web site on 
November 28, 2016

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Vanessa Careiro, Attorney-Advisor, 
Office of Supervision Policy, 1700 G Street NW., 20552, (202) 435-9394.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Compliance Bulletin

    Financial services companies, including entities supervised by the 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau), may accomplish 
business objectives through programs that tie outcomes to certain 
benchmarks, both required and optional. Companies may apply these 
production incentives, including sales and other incentives, 
(``incentives'') to employees or service providers or both. The risks 
these incentives may pose to consumers are significant and both the 
intended and unintended effects of incentives can be complex, which 
makes this subject worthy of more careful attention by institutional 
leadership, compliance officers, and regulators alike. We thus will 
continue to invite further dialogue and discussion around the issues 
addressed in this Bulletin.
    The Bureau acknowledges that incentives have been common across 
many economic sectors, including the market for consumer financial 
products and services. When properly implemented and monitored, 
reasonable incentives can benefit all stakeholders and the financial 
marketplace as a whole. For instance, companies may be able to attract 
and retain high-performing employees to enhance their overall 
competitive performance. Consumers may also benefit if these programs 
lead to improved customer service or introduce them to products or 
services that are beneficial to their financial interests.
    Such incentives can affect a wide range of outcomes for employees 
or service providers, from their compensation levels to whether they 
will continue to be employed or retained at all. Incentives are found 
in many markets for consumer financial products and services, and span 
the life cycle from marketing to sales, servicing, and collection. 
Common examples include sales or referrals of new products or services 
to existing consumers (``cross-selling''), sales of products or 
services to new customers, sales at higher prices where pricing 
discretion exists, quotas for customer calls completed, and collections 
benchmarks.
    This Bulletin compiles guidance the CFPB has already given in other 
contexts and highlights examples from the CFPB's supervisory and 
enforcement experience in which incentives contributed to substantial 
consumer harm. It also describes compliance management steps that 
supervised entities should take to mitigate risks posed by incentives.

A. Risks to Consumers From Incentives

    Despite their potential benefits, incentive programs can pose risks 
to consumers, especially when they create an unrealistic culture of 
high-pressure targets. When such programs are not carefully and 
properly implemented and monitored, they may create incentives for 
employees or service providers to pursue overly aggressive marketing, 
sales, servicing, or collections tactics. Through its supervisory and 
enforcement programs, the CFPB has taken action where employees have 
opened accounts or enrolled consumers in services without consent or 
where employees or service providers have misled consumers into 
purchasing products the consumers did not want, were unaware would harm 
them financially, or came with an unexpected ongoing periodic fee.
    Depending on the facts and circumstances, such incentives may lead 
to outright violations of Federal consumer financial law \1\ and other 
risks to the institution, such as public enforcement, supervisory 
actions, private litigation, reputational harm,

[[Page 5542]]

and potential alienation of existing and future customers. Specific 
examples of problems include:
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    \1\ Selected examples of these violations previously identified 
by the Bureau include the Dodd-Frank Act's prohibition of unfair, 
deceptive, and/or abusive acts or practices (UDAAPs) (Dodd-Frank 
Act, Sec. Sec.  1031 & 1036(a), codified at 12 U.S.C. 5531 & 
5536(a); the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA), as implemented by 
Regulation E (15 U.S.C. 1693 et seq.; 12 CFR part 1005); the Fair 
Credit Reporting Act, as implemented by Regulation V (15 U.S.C. 
1681-1681x; 12 CFR part 1022); the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), as 
implemented by Regulation Z (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.; 12 CFR part 
1026); and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C 1692-
1692p).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Sales goals may encourage employees, either directly or 
indirectly, to open accounts or enroll consumers in services without 
their knowledge or consent. Depending on the type of account, this may 
further result in, for example:
    [cir] Improperly incurred fees;
    [cir] Improper collections activities; and/or
    [cir] Negative effects on consumer credit scores.
     Sales benchmarks may encourage employees or service 
providers to market a product deceptively to consumers who may not 
benefit from or even qualify for it;
     Paying compensation based on the terms or conditions of 
transactions (such as interest rate) may encourage employees or service 
providers to overcharge consumers, to place them in less favorable 
products than they qualify for, or to sell them more credit or services 
than they had requested or needed;
     Paying more compensation for some types of transactions 
than for others that were or could have been offered to meet consumer 
needs, which could lead employees or service providers to steer 
consumers to transactions not in their interests; and
     Unrealistic quotas to sign consumers up for financial 
services may incentivize employees to achieve this result without 
actual consent or by means of deception.
    Whether conduct like that described in this Bulletin violates 
Federal consumer financial law will depend on all relevant facts 
related to the practices encouraged by the incentives. Further detail 
on some of the Bureau's work and findings in these areas is recapped 
below:
Credit Card Add-On Matters
    To date, the CFPB has resolved 12 different cases involving 
improper practices to market credit card add-on products or to retain 
consumers once enrolled in these products.\2\ The Bureau notes that 
incentives frequently enhanced the risk that banks would engage in such 
improper practices. In some cases, employees or service providers 
received incentives, and a lack of proper controls allowed deceptive 
marketing practices to continue unchecked for many years. Tapes of 
sales calls showed that employees and service providers deviated from 
the prepared call scripts in order to market the add-on products more 
aggressively, and often deceptively, to sign up more consumers. In all 
these matters, the companies' compliance monitoring, vendor management, 
and quality assurance programs failed to prevent, identify, or correct 
these practices in a timely manner.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ For more information on all of the matters noted in this 
Bulletin, please refer to the Bureau's Web site at http://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-compliance/enforcement/actions/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overdraft Opt-In Matters
    Incentives played a role in at least one matter where consumers 
were deceived into opting in to overdraft services. The Bureau found 
that, as a result of incentives for hitting specific targets, a bank's 
telemarketing service provider had deceptively marketed overdraft 
services and enrolled certain bank consumers in those services without 
their consent.
Unfair and Abusive Sales Practices
    In another public enforcement action, a Bureau investigation 
revealed that thousands of bank employees had opened unauthorized 
deposit and credit card accounts to satisfy sales goals and earn 
financial rewards under the bank's incentives. Specifically, the Bureau 
found that employees engaged in ``simulated funding'' by opening 
hundreds of thousands of deposit accounts without consumers' knowledge 
or consent, which caused consumers to incur improper fees. The Bureau 
also found that employees issued tens of thousands of unauthorized 
credit cards that incurred improper fees, opened debit cards and 
created PINs to activate them without consumers' knowledge or consent, 
and enrolled consumers in online banking services using false email 
addresses.

B. The CFPB's Expectations

    The CFPB expects supervised entities that choose to utilize 
incentives to institute effective controls for the risks these programs 
may pose to consumers, including oversight of both employees and 
service providers involved in these programs. As the CFPB has 
emphasized repeatedly, a robust compliance management system (CMS) is 
necessary to detect and prevent violations of Federal consumer 
financial law.\3\ An entity's CMS should reflect the risk, nature, and 
significance of the incentive programs to which they apply. 
Accordingly, the strictest controls will be necessary where incentives 
concern products or services less likely to benefit consumers or that 
have a higher potential to lead to consumer harm, reward outcomes that 
do not necessarily align with consumer interests, or implicate a 
significant proportion of employee compensation. While the CFPB does 
not mandate any particular CMS structure and recognizes that CMS 
structures may appropriately vary based on the size and complexity of 
an organization, the Bureau's supervisory experience has found that an 
effective CMS commonly has the following components:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Supervision and Examination Manual: Compliance Management 
Review, available at http://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-compliance/guidance/supervision-examinations/; Supervisory 
Highlights, multiple editions, available at http://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-compliance/guidance/supervisory-highlights/.
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     Board of directors and management oversight;
     Compliance program, which includes:
    [cir] Policies and procedures;
    [cir] Training; and
    [cir] Monitoring and corrective action;
     Consumer complaint management program; and
     Independent compliance audit.
    To limit incentives from leading to violations of law, supervised 
entities should take steps to ensure their CMS is effective. These 
steps may include, but are not limited to:
     Board of directors and management oversight: Fostering a 
culture of strong customer service related to incentives. In product 
sales, for example, ensuring that consumers are only offered products 
likely to benefit their interests;
    [cir] Board members and senior management should consider not only 
the outcomes these programs seek to achieve, but also how they may 
incidentally incentivize outcomes that harm consumers. They should 
authorize compliance personnel to design and implement CMS elements 
that address both intended and unintended outcomes, and provide 
adequate resources to do so.
    [cir] The ``tone from the top'' should empower all employees to 
report suspected incidents of improper behavior without fear of 
retaliation, providing easily accessible means to do so.
     Policies and procedures: Ensuring that the policies and 
procedures for incentives contain:
    [cir] Employee sales/collections quotas that, if a part of an 
entity's incentive program, are transparent to employees and reasonably 
attainable;
    [cir] Clear controls for managing the risk inherent in each stage 
of the product life cycle (as applicable): marketing, sales (including 
account opening), servicing, and collections;

[[Page 5543]]

    [cir] Mechanisms to identify potential conflicts of interest posed 
for supervisory personnel who are covered by incentives but also are 
responsible for monitoring the quality of customer treatment and 
customer satisfaction; and
    [cir] Fair and independent processes for investigating reported 
issues of suspected improper behavior.
     Training: Implementing comprehensive training that 
addresses:
    [cir] Expectations for incentives, including standards of ethical 
behavior;
    [cir] Common risky behaviors for employees and service providers to 
foster greater awareness of primary risk areas;
    [cir] Terms and conditions of the institution's products and 
services so that they can be effectively described to consumers; and
    [cir] Regulatory and business requirements for obtaining and 
maintaining evidence of consumer consent.
     Monitoring: Designing overall compliance monitoring 
programs that track key metrics--and outliers--that may indicate 
incentives are leading to improper behavior by employees or service 
providers. Examples of possible monitoring metrics include, but are not 
limited to:
    [cir] Overall product penetration rates by consumer and household;
    [cir] Specific penetration rates for products and services (such as 
overdraft, add-on products, and online banking), as well as penetration 
rates by consumer segment;
    [cir] Employee turnover and employee satisfaction or complaint 
rates;
    [cir] Spikes and trends in sales (both completed and failed sales) 
by specific individuals and by units;
    [cir] Financial incentive payouts; and
    [cir] Account opening/product enrollment and account closure/
product cancellation statistics, including by specific individuals and 
by units, taking into account the terms of the incentive programs 
(i.e., requirements that accounts be open for a period of time or 
funded in order for employees to obtain credit under the program).
     Corrective Action: Promptly implementing corrective 
actions to address any incentive issues identified by monitoring 
reviews as areas of weakness:
    [cir] Corrective actions should include the termination of 
employees, service providers, and managers, as necessary, and these 
termination statistics should be analyzed for trends and root cause(s);
    [cir] Corrective actions should include changes to the structure of 
incentives, training on these programs, and return of funds to all 
affected consumers as appropriate in light of failed sales or 
heightened levels of customer dissatisfaction;
    [cir] All corrective actions should ensure that the root causes of 
deficiencies are identified and resolved; and
    [cir] Findings should be escalated to management and the board, 
particularly where they appear to pose significant risks to consumers.
     Consumer complaint management program: Collecting and 
analyzing consumer complaints for indications that incentives are 
leading to violations of law or harm to consumers in order to identify 
and resolve the root causes of any such issues; and
     Independent compliance audit: Scheduling audits to address 
incentives and consumer outcomes across all products or services to 
which they apply, ensuring audits are conducted independently of both 
the compliance program and the business functions, and ensuring that 
all necessary corrective actions are promptly implemented.
    For more information pertaining to the oversight of incentive 
programs, please review the CFPB's Supervision and Examination 
Manual.\4\ Specific modules referencing these programs include: 
Compliance Management Review, Unfair, Deceptive, and Abusive Acts or 
Practices, Debt Collection, Credit Card Account Management, Consumer 
Reporting, Mortgage Origination, Short-Term Small Dollar Lending, and 
the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Other relevant Bureau guidance 
includes: CFPB Bulletin 2012-06 (Marketing of Credit Card Add-on 
Products),\5\ and CFPB Bulletin 2016-02 (Service Providers, amending 
and reissuing CFPB Bulletin 2012-03).\6\
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    \4\ CFPB Supervision and Examination Manual, available at http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201210_cfpb_supervision-and-examination-manual-v2.pdf.
    \5\ CFPB Bulletin 2012-06, available at http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201207_cfpb_marketing_of_credit_card_addon_products.pdf.
    \6\ CFPB Bulletin 2016-02, available at http://www.consumerfinance.gov/documents/1385/102016_cfpb_OfficialGuidanceServiceProviderBulletin.pdf.
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2. Regulatory Requirements

    This Compliance Bulletin is a non-binding general statement of 
policy articulating considerations relevant to the Bureau's exercise of 
its supervisory and enforcement authority. It is therefore exempt from 
notice and comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative 
Procedure Act pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b). Because no notice of 
proposed rulemaking is required, the Regulatory Flexibility Act does 
not require an initial or final regulatory flexibility analysis. 5 
U.S.C. 603(a), 604(a). The Bureau has determined that this Compliance 
Bulletin does not impose any new or revise any existing recordkeeping, 
reporting, or disclosure requirements on covered entities or members of 
the public that would be collections of information requiring OMB 
approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.

    Dated: January 5, 2017.
Richard Cordray,
Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
[FR Doc. 2017-01021 Filed 1-17-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P



                                                                             Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 18, 2017 / Notices                                                      5541

                                                  inform a decision of the best way to                    SUMMARY:   The Bureau recognizes that                  service providers, from their
                                                  account for factory halibut in a                        many supervised entities may choose to                 compensation levels to whether they
                                                  regulated program.                                      implement incentive programs to                        will continue to be employed or
                                                    This EFP would be valid upon                          achieve business objectives. When                      retained at all. Incentives are found in
                                                  renewal until either the end of 2017 or                 properly implemented and monitored,                    many markets for consumer financial
                                                  when the annual halibut mortality                       reasonable incentives can benefit                      products and services, and span the life
                                                  apportionment is reached in areas of the                consumers and the financial                            cycle from marketing to sales, servicing,
                                                  BSAI open to directed fishing by the                    marketplace as a whole.                                and collection. Common examples
                                                  various sectors, whichever occurs first.                  This bulletin compiles guidance that                 include sales or referrals of new
                                                  EFP-authorized fishing activities would                 has previously been given by the CFPB                  products or services to existing
                                                  not be expected to change the nature or                 in other contexts and highlights                       consumers (‘‘cross-selling’’), sales of
                                                  duration of the groundfish fishery, gear                examples from the CFPB’s supervisory                   products or services to new customers,
                                                  used, or the amount or species of fish                  and enforcement experience in which                    sales at higher prices where pricing
                                                  caught by the participants.                             incentives contributed to substantial                  discretion exists, quotas for customer
                                                    The fieldwork that would be                           consumer harm. It also describes                       calls completed, and collections
                                                  conducted under this EFP is not                         compliance management steps                            benchmarks.
                                                  expected to have a significant impact on                supervised entities should take to                       This Bulletin compiles guidance the
                                                  the human environment as detailed in                    mitigate risks posed by incentives.                    CFPB has already given in other
                                                  the categorical exclusion prepared for                  DATES: The Bureau released this                        contexts and highlights examples from
                                                  this action (see ADDRESSES).                            Compliance Bulletin on its Web site on                 the CFPB’s supervisory and enforcement
                                                    In accordance with § 679.6, NMFS has                  November 28, 2016                                      experience in which incentives
                                                  determined that the renewal application                 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:                       contributed to substantial consumer
                                                  warrants further consideration and has                  Vanessa Careiro, Attorney-Advisor,                     harm. It also describes compliance
                                                  forwarded the application to the                        Office of Supervision Policy, 1700 G                   management steps that supervised
                                                  Council to initiate consultation. The                   Street NW., 20552, (202) 435–9394.                     entities should take to mitigate risks
                                                  Council is scheduled to consider the                    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                                                                                                                                                                 posed by incentives.
                                                  EFP renewal application during its
                                                                                                          1. Compliance Bulletin                                 A. Risks to Consumers From Incentives
                                                  February 2017 meeting, which will be
                                                  held at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel,                     Financial services companies,                          Despite their potential benefits,
                                                  Seattle WA. The applicant has been                      including entities supervised by the                   incentive programs can pose risks to
                                                  invited to appear in support of the                     Consumer Financial Protection Bureau                   consumers, especially when they create
                                                  renewal application.                                    (CFPB or Bureau), may accomplish                       an unrealistic culture of high-pressure
                                                                                                          business objectives through programs                   targets. When such programs are not
                                                  Public Comments                                                                                                carefully and properly implemented and
                                                                                                          that tie outcomes to certain benchmarks,
                                                    Interested persons may comment on                     both required and optional. Companies                  monitored, they may create incentives
                                                  the application at the February 2017                    may apply these production incentives,                 for employees or service providers to
                                                  Council meeting during public                           including sales and other incentives,                  pursue overly aggressive marketing,
                                                  testimony or until February 7, 2017.                    (‘‘incentives’’) to employees or service               sales, servicing, or collections tactics.
                                                  Information regarding the meeting is                    providers or both. The risks these                     Through its supervisory and
                                                  available at the Council’s Web site at                  incentives may pose to consumers are                   enforcement programs, the CFPB has
                                                  http://www.npfmc.org. Copies of the                     significant and both the intended and                  taken action where employees have
                                                  renewal application and categorical                     unintended effects of incentives can be                opened accounts or enrolled consumers
                                                  exclusion are available for review from                 complex, which makes this subject                      in services without consent or where
                                                  NMFS (see ADDRESSES). Comments also                     worthy of more careful attention by                    employees or service providers have
                                                  may be submitted directly to NMFS (see                  institutional leadership, compliance                   misled consumers into purchasing
                                                  ADDRESSES) by the end of the comment
                                                                                                          officers, and regulators alike. We thus                products the consumers did not want,
                                                  period (see DATES).                                     will continue to invite further dialogue               were unaware would harm them
                                                     Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.                    and discussion around the issues                       financially, or came with an unexpected
                                                                                                          addressed in this Bulletin.                            ongoing periodic fee.
                                                    Dated: January 12, 2017.                                                                                        Depending on the facts and
                                                  Samuel D. Rauch III,                                       The Bureau acknowledges that
                                                                                                          incentives have been common across                     circumstances, such incentives may
                                                  Deputy Assistant Administrator for                                                                             lead to outright violations of Federal
                                                  Regulatory Programs, National Marine                    many economic sectors, including the
                                                                                                          market for consumer financial products                 consumer financial law 1 and other risks
                                                  Fisheries Service.                                                                                             to the institution, such as public
                                                  [FR Doc. 2017–01063 Filed 1–17–17; 8:45 am]
                                                                                                          and services. When properly
                                                                                                          implemented and monitored, reasonable                  enforcement, supervisory actions,
                                                  BILLING CODE 3510–22–P
                                                                                                          incentives can benefit all stakeholders                private litigation, reputational harm,
                                                                                                          and the financial marketplace as a                       1 Selected examples of these violations previously
                                                                                                          whole. For instance, companies may be                  identified by the Bureau include the Dodd-Frank
                                                  BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL                            able to attract and retain high-                       Act’s prohibition of unfair, deceptive, and/or
                                                  PROTECTION                                              performing employees to enhance their                  abusive acts or practices (UDAAPs) (Dodd-Frank
                                                                                                          overall competitive performance.                       Act, §§ 1031 & 1036(a), codified at 12 U.S.C. 5531
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES




                                                  Compliance Bulletin 2016–03:                            Consumers may also benefit if these                    & 5536(a); the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA),
                                                  Detecting and Preventing Consumer                                                                              as implemented by Regulation E (15 U.S.C. 1693 et
                                                                                                          programs lead to improved customer                     seq.; 12 CFR part 1005); the Fair Credit Reporting
                                                  Harm From Production Incentives                         service or introduce them to products or               Act, as implemented by Regulation V (15 U.S.C.
                                                                                                          services that are beneficial to their                  1681–1681x; 12 CFR part 1022); the Truth in
                                                  AGENCY:  Bureau of Consumer Financial                                                                          Lending Act (TILA), as implemented by Regulation
                                                  Protection.                                             financial interests.                                   Z (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.; 12 CFR part 1026); and
                                                                                                             Such incentives can affect a wide                   the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C
                                                  ACTION: Compliance Bulletin.
                                                                                                          range of outcomes for employees or                     1692–1692p).



                                             VerDate Sep<11>2014   17:41 Jan 17, 2017   Jkt 241001   PO 00000   Frm 00020   Fmt 4703   Sfmt 4703   E:\FR\FM\18JAN1.SGM   18JAN1


                                                  5542                        Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 18, 2017 / Notices

                                                  and potential alienation of existing and                Tapes of sales calls showed that                       programs to which they apply.
                                                  future customers. Specific examples of                  employees and service providers                        Accordingly, the strictest controls will
                                                  problems include:                                       deviated from the prepared call scripts                be necessary where incentives concern
                                                     • Sales goals may encourage                          in order to market the add-on products                 products or services less likely to
                                                  employees, either directly or indirectly,               more aggressively, and often                           benefit consumers or that have a higher
                                                  to open accounts or enroll consumers in                 deceptively, to sign up more consumers.                potential to lead to consumer harm,
                                                  services without their knowledge or                     In all these matters, the companies’                   reward outcomes that do not necessarily
                                                  consent. Depending on the type of                       compliance monitoring, vendor                          align with consumer interests, or
                                                  account, this may further result in, for                management, and quality assurance                      implicate a significant proportion of
                                                  example:                                                programs failed to prevent, identify, or               employee compensation. While the
                                                     Æ Improperly incurred fees;                          correct these practices in a timely                    CFPB does not mandate any particular
                                                     Æ Improper collections activities;                   manner.                                                CMS structure and recognizes that CMS
                                                  and/or                                                                                                         structures may appropriately vary based
                                                                                                          Overdraft Opt-In Matters
                                                     Æ Negative effects on consumer credit                                                                       on the size and complexity of an
                                                  scores.                                                   Incentives played a role in at least one             organization, the Bureau’s supervisory
                                                     • Sales benchmarks may encourage                     matter where consumers were deceived                   experience has found that an effective
                                                  employees or service providers to                       into opting in to overdraft services. The              CMS commonly has the following
                                                  market a product deceptively to                         Bureau found that, as a result of                      components:
                                                  consumers who may not benefit from or                   incentives for hitting specific targets, a                • Board of directors and management
                                                  even qualify for it;                                    bank’s telemarketing service provider                  oversight;
                                                     • Paying compensation based on the                   had deceptively marketed overdraft                        • Compliance program, which
                                                  terms or conditions of transactions                     services and enrolled certain bank                     includes:
                                                  (such as interest rate) may encourage                   consumers in those services without                       Æ Policies and procedures;
                                                  employees or service providers to                       their consent.                                            Æ Training; and
                                                  overcharge consumers, to place them in                  Unfair and Abusive Sales Practices                        Æ Monitoring and corrective action;
                                                  less favorable products than they qualify                                                                         • Consumer complaint management
                                                  for, or to sell them more credit or                        In another public enforcement action,
                                                                                                                                                                 program; and
                                                                                                          a Bureau investigation revealed that
                                                  services than they had requested or                                                                               • Independent compliance audit.
                                                  needed;                                                 thousands of bank employees had
                                                                                                                                                                    To limit incentives from leading to
                                                     • Paying more compensation for some                  opened unauthorized deposit and credit
                                                                                                                                                                 violations of law, supervised entities
                                                  types of transactions than for others that              card accounts to satisfy sales goals and
                                                                                                                                                                 should take steps to ensure their CMS
                                                  were or could have been offered to meet                 earn financial rewards under the bank’s
                                                                                                                                                                 is effective. These steps may include,
                                                  consumer needs, which could lead                        incentives. Specifically, the Bureau
                                                                                                                                                                 but are not limited to:
                                                                                                          found that employees engaged in
                                                  employees or service providers to steer                                                                           • Board of directors and management
                                                  consumers to transactions not in their                  ‘‘simulated funding’’ by opening
                                                                                                                                                                 oversight: Fostering a culture of strong
                                                  interests; and                                          hundreds of thousands of deposit
                                                                                                                                                                 customer service related to incentives.
                                                     • Unrealistic quotas to sign                         accounts without consumers’
                                                                                                                                                                 In product sales, for example, ensuring
                                                  consumers up for financial services may                 knowledge or consent, which caused
                                                                                                                                                                 that consumers are only offered
                                                  incentivize employees to achieve this                   consumers to incur improper fees. The
                                                                                                                                                                 products likely to benefit their interests;
                                                  result without actual consent or by                     Bureau also found that employees
                                                                                                                                                                    Æ Board members and senior
                                                  means of deception.                                     issued tens of thousands of
                                                                                                                                                                 management should consider not only
                                                     Whether conduct like that described                  unauthorized credit cards that incurred
                                                                                                                                                                 the outcomes these programs seek to
                                                  in this Bulletin violates Federal                       improper fees, opened debit cards and
                                                                                                                                                                 achieve, but also how they may
                                                  consumer financial law will depend on                   created PINs to activate them without
                                                                                                                                                                 incidentally incentivize outcomes that
                                                  all relevant facts related to the practices             consumers’ knowledge or consent, and
                                                                                                                                                                 harm consumers. They should authorize
                                                  encouraged by the incentives. Further                   enrolled consumers in online banking
                                                                                                                                                                 compliance personnel to design and
                                                  detail on some of the Bureau’s work and                 services using false email addresses.
                                                                                                                                                                 implement CMS elements that address
                                                  findings in these areas is recapped                     B. The CFPB’s Expectations                             both intended and unintended
                                                  below:                                                                                                         outcomes, and provide adequate
                                                                                                            The CFPB expects supervised entities
                                                  Credit Card Add-On Matters                              that choose to utilize incentives to                   resources to do so.
                                                                                                          institute effective controls for the risks                Æ The ‘‘tone from the top’’ should
                                                    To date, the CFPB has resolved 12                                                                            empower all employees to report
                                                  different cases involving improper                      these programs may pose to consumers,
                                                                                                          including oversight of both employees                  suspected incidents of improper
                                                  practices to market credit card add-on                                                                         behavior without fear of retaliation,
                                                  products or to retain consumers once                    and service providers involved in these
                                                                                                          programs. As the CFPB has emphasized                   providing easily accessible means to do
                                                  enrolled in these products.2 The Bureau                                                                        so.
                                                                                                          repeatedly, a robust compliance
                                                  notes that incentives frequently                                                                                  • Policies and procedures: Ensuring
                                                                                                          management system (CMS) is necessary
                                                  enhanced the risk that banks would                                                                             that the policies and procedures for
                                                                                                          to detect and prevent violations of
                                                  engage in such improper practices. In                                                                          incentives contain:
                                                                                                          Federal consumer financial law.3 An
                                                  some cases, employees or service                                                                                  Æ Employee sales/collections quotas
                                                  providers received incentives, and a                    entity’s CMS should reflect the risk,
                                                                                                                                                                 that, if a part of an entity’s incentive
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                                                  lack of proper controls allowed                         nature, and significance of the incentive
                                                                                                                                                                 program, are transparent to employees
                                                  deceptive marketing practices to                           3 Supervision and Examination Manual:               and reasonably attainable;
                                                  continue unchecked for many years.                      Compliance Management Review, available at                Æ Clear controls for managing the risk
                                                                                                          http://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-                 inherent in each stage of the product life
                                                     2 For more information on all of the matters noted   compliance/guidance/supervision-examinations/;
                                                  in this Bulletin, please refer to the Bureau’s Web      Supervisory Highlights, multiple editions, available
                                                                                                                                                                 cycle (as applicable): marketing, sales
                                                  site at http://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-          at http://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-              (including account opening), servicing,
                                                  compliance/enforcement/actions/.                        compliance/guidance/supervisory-highlights/.           and collections;


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                                                                             Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 18, 2017 / Notices                                                    5543

                                                     Æ Mechanisms to identify potential                   appropriate in light of failed sales or                 regulatory flexibility analysis. 5 U.S.C.
                                                  conflicts of interest posed for                         heightened levels of customer                           603(a), 604(a). The Bureau has
                                                  supervisory personnel who are covered                   dissatisfaction;                                        determined that this Compliance
                                                  by incentives but also are responsible                     Æ All corrective actions should                      Bulletin does not impose any new or
                                                  for monitoring the quality of customer                  ensure that the root causes of                          revise any existing recordkeeping,
                                                  treatment and customer satisfaction; and                deficiencies are identified and resolved;               reporting, or disclosure requirements on
                                                     Æ Fair and independent processes for                 and                                                     covered entities or members of the
                                                  investigating reported issues of                           Æ Findings should be escalated to                    public that would be collections of
                                                  suspected improper behavior.                            management and the board, particularly                  information requiring OMB approval
                                                     • Training: Implementing                             where they appear to pose significant                   under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44
                                                  comprehensive training that addresses:                  risks to consumers.                                     U.S.C. 3501, et seq.
                                                     Æ Expectations for incentives,                          • Consumer complaint management
                                                                                                          program: Collecting and analyzing                         Dated: January 5, 2017.
                                                  including standards of ethical behavior;
                                                                                                          consumer complaints for indications                     Richard Cordray,
                                                     Æ Common risky behaviors for
                                                  employees and service providers to                      that incentives are leading to violations               Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial
                                                                                                          of law or harm to consumers in order to                 Protection.
                                                  foster greater awareness of primary risk
                                                  areas;                                                  identify and resolve the root causes of                 [FR Doc. 2017–01021 Filed 1–17–17; 8:45 am]
                                                     Æ Terms and conditions of the                        any such issues; and                                    BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P
                                                  institution’s products and services so                     • Independent compliance audit:
                                                  that they can be effectively described to               Scheduling audits to address incentives
                                                  consumers; and                                          and consumer outcomes across all                        DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
                                                     Æ Regulatory and business                            products or services to which they
                                                  requirements for obtaining and                          apply, ensuring audits are conducted                    Notice of Intent To Prepare an
                                                  maintaining evidence of consumer                        independently of both the compliance                    Environmental Impact Statement in
                                                  consent.                                                program and the business functions, and                 Connection With Dakota Access, LLC’s
                                                     • Monitoring: Designing overall                      ensuring that all necessary corrective                  Request for an Easement To Cross
                                                  compliance monitoring programs that                     actions are promptly implemented.                       Lake Oahe, North Dakota
                                                  track key metrics—and outliers—that                        For more information pertaining to
                                                                                                          the oversight of incentive programs,                    AGENCY:   Department of the Army, DoD.
                                                  may indicate incentives are leading to
                                                                                                          please review the CFPB’s Supervision                    ACTION:   Notice.
                                                  improper behavior by employees or
                                                  service providers. Examples of possible                 and Examination Manual.4 Specific
                                                                                                                                                                  SUMMARY:   This notice advises the public
                                                  monitoring metrics include, but are not                 modules referencing these programs
                                                                                                                                                                  that the Department of the Army
                                                  limited to:                                             include: Compliance Management
                                                                                                          Review, Unfair, Deceptive, and Abusive                  (Army), as lead agency, is gathering
                                                     Æ Overall product penetration rates                                                                          information necessary to prepare an
                                                  by consumer and household;                              Acts or Practices, Debt Collection,
                                                                                                          Credit Card Account Management,                         environmental impact statement (EIS) in
                                                     Æ Specific penetration rates for                                                                             connection with Dakota Access, LLC’s
                                                  products and services (such as                          Consumer Reporting, Mortgage
                                                                                                          Origination, Short-Term Small Dollar                    request to grant an easement to cross
                                                  overdraft, add-on products, and online                                                                          Lake Oahe, which is on the Missouri
                                                  banking), as well as penetration rates by               Lending, and the Equal Credit
                                                                                                          Opportunity Act. Other relevant Bureau                  River and owned by the US Army Corps
                                                  consumer segment;                                                                                               of Engineers (Corps). This notice opens
                                                     Æ Employee turnover and employee                     guidance includes: CFPB Bulletin 2012–
                                                                                                          06 (Marketing of Credit Card Add-on                     the public scoping phase and invites
                                                  satisfaction or complaint rates;                                                                                interested parties to identify potential
                                                     Æ Spikes and trends in sales (both                   Products),5 and CFPB Bulletin 2016–02
                                                                                                          (Service Providers, amending and                        issues, concerns, and reasonable
                                                  completed and failed sales) by specific                                                                         alternatives that should be considered
                                                  individuals and by units;                               reissuing CFPB Bulletin 2012–03).6
                                                                                                                                                                  in an EIS.
                                                     Æ Financial incentive payouts; and                   2. Regulatory Requirements
                                                     Æ Account opening/product                                                                                    DATES: To ensure consideration during
                                                  enrollment and account closure/product                     This Compliance Bulletin is a non-                   the development of an EIS, written
                                                  cancellation statistics, including by                   binding general statement of policy                     comments on the scope of an EIS should
                                                  specific individuals and by units, taking               articulating considerations relevant to                 be sent no later than February 20, 2017.
                                                  into account the terms of the incentive                 the Bureau’s exercise of its supervisory                The date of all public scoping meetings
                                                  programs (i.e., requirements that                       and enforcement authority. It is                        will be announced at least 15 days in
                                                  accounts be open for a period of time or                therefore exempt from notice and                        advance through a notice to be
                                                  funded in order for employees to obtain                 comment rulemaking requirements                         published in the local North Dakota
                                                  credit under the program).                              under the Administrative Procedure Act                  newspaper (The Bismarck Tribune) and
                                                     • Corrective Action: Promptly                        pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b). Because no                 online at https://www.army.mil/asacw.
                                                  implementing corrective actions to                      notice of proposed rulemaking is                        ADDRESSES: You may mail or hand
                                                  address any incentive issues identified                 required, the Regulatory Flexibility Act                deliver written comments to Mr. Gib
                                                  by monitoring reviews as areas of                       does not require an initial or final                    Owen, Office of the Assistant Secretary
                                                  weakness:                                                                                                       of the Army for Civil Works, 108 Army
                                                                                                            4 CFPB Supervision and Examination Manual,
                                                     Æ Corrective actions should include                                                                          Pentagon, Washington, DC 20310–0108.
                                                                                                          available at http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/
                                                  the termination of employees, service                                                                           Advance arrangements will need to be
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                                                                                                          201210_cfpb_supervision-and-examination-
                                                  providers, and managers, as necessary,                  manual-v2.pdf.                                          made to hand deliver comments. Please
                                                  and these termination statistics should                   5 CFPB Bulletin 2012–06, available at http://files.   include your name, return address, and
                                                  be analyzed for trends and root cause(s);               consumerfinance.gov/f/201207_cfpb_marketing_of_         ‘‘NOI Comments, Dakota Access
                                                     Æ Corrective actions should include                  credit_card_addon_products.pdf.                         Pipeline Crossing’’ on the first page of
                                                                                                            6 CFPB Bulletin 2016–02, available at http://
                                                  changes to the structure of incentives,                 www.consumerfinance.gov/documents/1385/
                                                                                                                                                                  your written comments. Comments may
                                                  training on these programs, and return                  102016_cfpb_OfficialGuidanceServiceProvider             also be submitted via email to Mr. Gib
                                                  of funds to all affected consumers as                   Bulletin.pdf.                                           Owen, at gib.a.owen.civ@mail.mil. If


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Document Created: 2018-02-01 15:19:33
Document Modified: 2018-02-01 15:19:33
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionNotices
ActionCompliance Bulletin.
DatesThe Bureau released this Compliance Bulletin on its Web site on November 28, 2016
ContactVanessa Careiro, Attorney-Advisor, Office of Supervision Policy, 1700 G Street NW., 20552, (202) 435-9394.
FR Citation82 FR 5541 

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