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CFPB should address the issues within its consumer complaint database before it turns its attention to launching a new consumer "compliment" database focusing on financial institutions, NAFCU's Alicia Nealon said in a letter today to CFPB.

"Before the CFPB expands the Consumer Database to include compliments, NAFCU and our members strongly believe that the Bureau must first address the reputation and privacy risks posed by the existing Complaint Database," wrote Nealon, NAFCU's director of regulatory affairs. "The current system poses serious concerns that personal information may be inadvertently released jeopardizing an individual's secure financial information."

CFPB announced in March that consumers can publicly voice their complaints about financial companies and their services – a move NAFCU still believes has the potential to increase reputational risk to credit unions. At the same time, the bureau said it was seeking input from the public on how it can collect and share consumers' positive interactions with financial companies.

"While we acknowledge the CFPB's efforts to add a Compliment channel to its existing database, NAFCU and our members believe that this initiative is premature," Nealon wrote.