At the ACA Legislative Conference Capitol Hill reception on May 6, 2014, members of Congress expressed their support for the credit and collections industry. The first annual conference brought together members of the credit and collections industry to discuss policy issues, and introduce industry members from across the nation to legislators. Among the keynote speakers at the conference were: Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), and Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.).
Luetkemeyer is a former bank examiner and vice chairman of the House Small Business Committee. He is also a member of the House Financial Services Committee. Mulvaney is a member of the House Financial Services Committee and is sympathetic to the challenges of mediating relationships between small businesses and the credit and collections industry. Westmoreland is also a member of the House Financial Services Committee and is a small business owner.
Among the policy issues discussed at the ACA Legislative Conference, was the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) proposed rule on Gramm-Leach-Bliley. The rule would amend the privacy notice under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). The change would allow for some collectors to post privacy notices on their websites, as opposed to sending out individual notices through the mail.
Currently, the GLBA requires institutions to send initial and annual notices regarding their privacy practices. The notices relay how financial institutions share consumers’ non-public personal information. Consumers must be notified if institutions are going to share this information with third parties so that consumers can deny this information exchange.
The proposed rule will mandate that credit and collection institutions continually post the annual privacy notice on a separate page on their website, that does not require a login to access the policy. If the institution qualifies for this type of notice, they are required to mention the privacy webpage in mail correspondence.