Our mission is to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans — whether they are applying for a mortgage, choosing among credit cards, or using any number of other consumer financial products.
We work to:
Educate: An informed consumer is the first line of defense against abusive practices.
Enforce: We supervise banks, credit unions, and other financial companies, and we enforce federal consumer financial laws.
Study: We gather and analyze available information to better understand consumers, financial services providers, and consumer financial markets.
Above all, this means ensuring that consumers get the information they need to make the financial decisions they believe are best for themselves and their families—that prices are clear up front, that risks are visible, and that nothing is buried in fine print. In a market that works, consumers should be able to make direct comparisons among products and no provider should be able to use unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices.
Core functions
We work to give consumers the information they need to understand the terms of their agreements with financial companies. We are working to make regulations and guidance as clear and streamlined as possible so providers of consumer financial products and services can follow the rules on their own.
Congress established the CFPB to protect consumers by carrying out federal consumer financial laws. Among other things, we:
- Write rules, supervise companies, and enforce federal consumer financial protection laws
- Restrict unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices
- Take consumer complaints
- Promote financial education
- Research consumer behavior
- Monitor financial markets for new risks to consumers
- Enforce laws that outlaw discrimination and other unfair treatment in consumer finance
Budget & Reports
BUDGET
Fiscal Year 2015
Fiscal Year 2014
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Strategic Plan FY 2013 – FY 2017
