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Despite concerns from NAFCU and other financial institutions about the reputational harm of publishing inaccurate, unverified consumer narratives, the CFPB will continue to publish its consumer complaint database. It did make enhancements, including disclaimers to provide better context to the published data.

CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger said the database's continued publication "empowers consumers and informs the public."

"When the Bureau asked for feedback in 2018, we received nearly 26,000 comments from a wide array of stakeholders including government officials, consumer groups, companies, academics, and individual consumers," Kraninger said. "After carefully examining and considering all stakeholder and public input, we are announcing the continued publication of complaints with enhanced data and context that will benefit consumers and users of the database while addressing many of the concerns raised."

Some of the modifications to the website include:

• more prominently displaying disclosures making it clear that the consumer complaint database is not a statistical sample of consumers' experiences in the marketplace;
• highlighting the availability of answers to common financial questions for consumers to help inform them before they submit a complaint; and
• highlighting consumers' ability to contact the financial company directly to get answers to their specific questions.

Commenting on the database last year, NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger noted the consequences credit unions face as a result of unverified consumer narratives, including "fewer members, market share, and potentially resulting in more time-consuming examinations."

As the information submitted to the database is used to inform the bureau's examination and supervision of financial institutions, Berger recommended that "complaint data should be treated as non-public information and should be limited to internal use given its significant influence over the bureau's supervisory functions."

Read more about the database enhancements.