Financial institutions will still see consumer complaints filed against them published online on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s website following a decision by the agency last week.

The CFPB announced that it will continue the publication of consumer complaints, data fields and narrative descriptions through the bureau’s Consumer Complaint Database while making several enhancements to the information available to users of the database. The enhancements include: modified disclaimers to provide better context to the published data; integrating financial information and resources into the complaint process to help address questions and better inform consumers before they submit a complaint; and information to assist consumers who wish to contact the financial company to get answers to their specific questions.

“Since its inception, the Consumer Complaint Database has not been without controversy. 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. 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,” CFPB Director Kathleen Kraninger said in a statement. “The continued publication of the database, along with the enhancements, empowers consumers and informs the public.”

Lenders had complained in the past that the comments did not provide enough context and could mislead consumers.

The bureau said it will continue to publish all previously disclosed fields, including consumers’ narrative descriptions of their complaints, but will add new features to the database:

• Build and launch dynamic visualization tools including geospatial and trend views based on recent complaint data to help users of the database understand current and recent marketplace conditions;
• Emphasize features for aggregation and analysis while continuing to make all the underlying data available for analysis;
• Explore expansion of a company’s ability to respond publicly to individual complaints listed in the database; and
• Continue to explore ways to put the complaint data in context of other data, such as by incorporating product or service market share and company size.

To date, the bureau has handled more than 1.9 million complaints. More than 5,000 financial companies have responded through this process, providing timely responses to 97 percent of the more than 1.3 million complaints sent to them for response.

“Consumer feedback is important to all businesses, but only if that feedback is trustworthy and reliable,” Virginia O’Neill, ABA’s executive vice president of regulatory compliance and policy, said in a statement. “In that spirit, we appreciate the CFPB’s efforts to provide greater context for the information in its Consumer Complaint Database. ABA has long expressed concern that the publication of unverified consumer complaints may mislead consumers by introducing unreliable information into the market. The addition of prominent disclosures indicating that the Bureau doesn’t verify allegations in complaint narratives and that complaints don’t necessarily represent all consumers’ experiences are appropriate and welcome.”

“MBA appreciates the bureau’s willingness to make changes to the Consumer Complaint Database so it will be a better resource for consumers and provide a more accurate depiction of industry performance,” Mortgage Bankers Association President Robert Broeksmit said in a statement. “The changes announced today by Director Kraninger, and the work in the months ahead, will allow consumers to make better informed and educated decisions with the information the Bureau collects and publishes through its complaint portal.”