CFPB: Competition in markets is good for business and consumers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced this week it is launching a new Office of Competition and Innovation to encourage new entrants into financial marketplaces as a means of improving customer service.
“Competition is one of the best forms of motivation. It can help companies innovate and make their products better, and their customers happier,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “We will be looking at ways to clear obstacles and pave the path to help people have more options and more easily make choices that are best for their needs.”
As part of the mission, the new Office will explore ways to create a more competitive marketplace by:
Giving consumers their walking rights to switch providers: Competition is more vibrant when people can switch to a new provider easily, creating pressure on incumbents to maintain high levels of service and giving new entrants an opportunity to win customers. The CFPB will be exploring ways to reduce the barriers to switching accounts and providers.
Researching structural problems blocking successes: The new office will be housed in the CFPB’s Research, Markets, and Regulation division, giving it greater access to resources to look at market-structure problems that create obstacles to innovation.
Identifying ways to address commonplace obstacles: Innovators may not be getting their products or services to market because of more practical problems like access to capital or talent. Or they may not launch because they don’t have access to the large volumes of digital data stored by the big banks.
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