“Until now, consumers who send money abroad had no protections if they felt they were getting gouged or ripped off.”
Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–October 29, 2013. New regulations from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) went into effect yesterday that will keep consumers better informed as they send money to loved ones overseas. Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-IL) fought for the inclusion of these important protections in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed into law by President Obama in 2010. “For years, immigrants sending money overseas were easy prey and lacked access to basic consumer protections for these financial transactions,” Rep. Gutiérrez said.
“Until now, consumers who send money abroad had no protections if they felt they were getting gouged or ripped off,” Rep. Gutiérrez said. “Finally, consumers will benefit from upfront, clear information about the exchange rate, taxes and fees, and the amount of money that will actually be received on the other end. Remittance transfers are big business for banks and financial institutions and there is new accountability in the system. With the CFPB remittance transfer rule, consumers will have peace of mind thanks to new protections that allow transfers to be canceled within 30 minutes and confidence that errors will be investigated and addressed.”
The World Bank estimates that people in the U.S. sent $51 billion in remittances in 2012. Rep. Gutiérrez was Chairman of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee at the time the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which created the CFPB and mandated the new remittance protections, was debated and passed in the House and a conferee when the final version was worked out with the Senate.
The new remittance rule applies to transactions sent by a consumer within the United states to a person or business in foreign country valued over $15 from financial institutions, including money transmitters, banks, and credit unions, that consistently send more than 100 international wire transfers each year.
“The CFPB has proved in a short amount of time that we can make the financial world safer for consumers and protect our economy from the excesses of the financial industry,” Rep. Gutiérrez said.
Source: Gutierrez.house.gov
Related Article:
