The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued guidance to law enforcement agencies and regulators explaining how companies operating comparison-shopping tools can break the law when they steer consumers to certain products or lenders because of kickbacks.
Details: The CFPB said:
Consumers use comparison-shopping tools to evaluate financial products, including credit cards, loans, and bank accounts.
Some digital comparison-shopping sites accept financial kickbacks, or “bounties,” to manipulate lists of results displayed to shoppers.
While the bureau previously issued guidance on mortgage comparison-shopping, the new circular provides guidance on how consumer financial protection laws apply to comparison shopping for other financial products.
It is developing a consumer-facing tool that will be designed to bring more price transparency to credit card comparison-shopping.
