On the recordDecember 11, 2012
I thank Senators Udall and Harkin. The Senator has raised an important point about this legislation. The intent of this legislation is not to lessen the amount of information that a consumer receives prior to conducting a transaction at an ATM. As the Senator has laid out, it is important that consumers be fully informed of the types of fees that they may face at the time of the transaction. The point was to modernize the information that consumers get, taking into account technological changes. But this bill is only one step toward modernization. The CFPB may wish to look at other steps to ensure that consumers are fully informed about the fees they may incur, whether that be through improved onscreen ATM disclosures, better disclosures at point of sale, or other methods. I understand that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is already taking a look at this issue as part of an existing rulemaking to streamline inherited regulations, and I agree that it is important for them to keep this fact in mind as they move forward on this rulemaking. Mr. MERKLEY: I thank Chairman Johnson. Yes, I would like to reiterate that the intent of this bill is to streamline duplicative disclosures and not make consumers less aware of potential fees that they face. Like you, I encourage the Bureau to use their upcoming rulemaking to ensure that this is not the case. I now turn to my friend from Minnesota.
