Searching for a new credit card can often feel overwhelming. From 0% APR cards to no fee balance transfer cards, there are so many companies to choose from. How can you know which card is the right one?
Tracking Credit Card Complaints
What if just like buying a book at Amazon
 you could simply go online and read what other consumers have to say about their experiences with specific credit card companies? That is exactly what one U.S. federal agency allows you to do.
The Consumer Credit Card Complaint Database
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), America’s newest consumer watchdog agency, has created a website that allows credit card shoppers to search companies and see the complaints filed against specific banks, financial institutions and other credit card issuers.
You can discover how many people have complained, the kind of complaint and the date the complaint was filed. Perhaps most importantly, consumers can also find out how quickly the credit card company dealt with consumer complaints and what actions the company took to deal with the issues.
Whenever a consumer files a complaint, a CFPB intake specialist reviews the complaint for jurisdiction, non-duplication and completeness. Those that meet the criteria are forwarded to the appropriate credit card company for review and resolution.
If you decide to file a complaint, the CFPB will provide you with a tracking number and give you updates on the status of your complaint. The companies have 15 days to give the complainant a substantive response and have 60 days to resolve the issue. The fact that a federal regulator will be tracking the status of your complaint means that the company should be more likely to address your issue.
Should the UK Follow Suit?
The UK’s Financial Ombudsman, an organization somewhat similar to the CFPB, currently publishes data on complaints about business groups and individual financial institutions only once every six months. Many financial experts hope that the UK adopts a more up to date database, similar to the one in the U.S.
Credit card shoppers would find it useful to know just how fast a company deals with issues before choosing one of their credit cards. In addition, credit card issuers will also feel more pressure to resolve complaints. None of the companies want to be revealed as the credit card company receiving the most complaints in the country.
What if the credit card companies are worried about their reputation? Well, that could be a good thing. Perhaps the public being able to view complaints will amp up their levels of customer service.
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