Consumer Protections Proposed

Representatives of CUNA were told by Treasury Secretary John Snow that Treasury was preparing a package of changes to boost protections for consumers, including: expanding access to free annual credit reports; directing the FTC and financial institution regulators to make opt-out notices for prescreened credit offers simpler and easier to execute; and providing consumers with information on how their credit scores were derived and how they can improve them (see related story, page 12). Snow further said he was calling for changes to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to help in the fight against ID theft.