CFPB hosts consumer financial markets research conference

Director Cordray presented prepared remarks yesterday to the participants at the CFPB Research Conference. The Director observed, “in the last two generations, the markets for consumer credit and household finance have expanded and become much more complex. Raw numbers tell the story. The mortgage market today stands at just over $10 trillion. Student loan debt has risen rapidly in recent years to over $1.3 trillion. Auto loan debt exceeds $1.1 trillion. And credit card debt now totals around $700 billion. Growing along with this debt has been the availability, variety, and complexity of consumer financial products and services “ He also noted, “We are also the first federal agency with jurisdiction over both banks and the nonbank financial companies that compete against them in markets like mortgage origination, mortgage servicing, auto finance, consumer installment lending, and the like. Just as an umpire must be authorized to assess the entire field of play, this authority enables us to level the expectations and compliance standards of these two types of financial services providers.”

Cordray also announced the unveiling of a new Consumer Credit Trends web tool, which offers a fresh and timely perspective on the performance of consumer financial markets both today and over time. The beta version of the Consumer Credit Trends tool tracks originations for mortgages, credit cards, auto loans, and student loans.