💳 CFPB on Card Late Fee

CFPB published a comprehensive report on credit card late fees on March 29, 2022.

• In 2020, a total of $12 billion in late fees were charged.

• This is about 10% of total credit card interest and fees.

• The fees decreased since the start of the pandemic,

• With both government assistance and lenders’ forbearance programs.

• Since April 2021, they are on the way back to 2019 levels.

• The average late fee is $31 in 2019.

• The first late fee is $26-27 vs. the repeated late fee of $34-35.

• The median value of the max late fee in a credit agreement is $21-25.

• Large issuers have the max late fees higher at $36-$40.

The Background:

As the financial cushion built during the pandemic begins to dwindle,

The financial cost is back to the attention of regulators.

In January, CFPB launched an initiative targeting the so-called junk fees.

By mid-March, it had already received over 25,000 comments.

The deadline to accept comments has now been extended to April 11.

The CFPB report: Credit card late fees report