INFiN Statement on CFPB v. CFSA: Supreme Court Decision Affirms CFPB’s Disastrous ‘We Know Best’ Approach and the Need for Congress to Enact Reforms

May 16, 2024, Washington, D.C. – INFiN, a Financial Services Alliance, the national association representing the state-licensed providers of consumer financial services including check cashing, money transfers, and small-dollar consumer loans, issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in CFPB v. CFSA:

“INFiN is disappointed by the Supreme Court’s ruling today, affirming the CFPB’s no-strings-attached funding as this expansive agency, unencumbered by congressional appropriations and oversight, endangers the financial choices of the very consumers it is charged with protecting. Emboldened by its unaccountable structure, the CFPB has consistently pursued a one-size fits all, ‘we know best’ approach to consumer financial services regulation, with untold consequences for consumers. 

“When Congress established the CFPB, lawmakers could not have envisioned that American consumers would need protection from the agency itself. Such has been the story of the last 13 years, as demonstrated by the arbitrary and capricious regulations at the heart of the case decided by the Supreme Court today. The CFPB has repeatedly overstepped its authority with an unchecked regulatory agenda, in this case imposing burdensome regulations on law-abiding, state-licensed businesses, often with no corresponding benefit to consumers and despite existing state and federal regulations. The Bureau has been driven by the unprecedented power of unelected bureaucrats and fueled by disinformation dictated by activists, rather than the experiences of actual consumers, especially those who have been ignored or forgotten by other financial institutions.

“Congress must now act to bring desperately needed accountability to the CFPB, to ensure the American people’s elected representatives are finally able to provide the fundamental oversight required of all other federal agencies. This includes addressing the central issue of this Supreme Court case – bringing the CFPB under the congressional appropriations process – as well as moving away from a single, all-powerful director and providing clear safe harbor for existing state regulations governing consumer financial services, among other critical reforms.”