CBA Supports Congressional Effort to End Abusive Robocalls, Requests Clarification to TCPA

Telephone Consumer Protection Act
April 18, 2018

WASHINGTON  - The Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) submitted a letter to the Senate Commerce Committee thanking committee members for their work to stop abusive robocalls. The letter also expresses the retail banking industry’s commitment to working with legislators and regulators to protect consumers from illegal calls, while clarifying the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) guidance to not limit pro-consumer notifications.

“The influx of fraudulent and illegal robocalls by bad actors has become an ever-growing problem for consumers. As Congress examines how to prevent these burdensome calls and address those with ill-intentions, it is imperative to distinguish these robocalls from the beneficial communications between legitimate businesses and their customers,” CBA Presdient and CEO wrote in the letter. “Consumers utilize many useful communications through calls and texts ranging from low balance notifications to repayment counseling, among other important notices and alerts. While the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was enacted nearly 27 years ago and aimed to protect consumers from intrusive and unwanted telemarketing calls, it has also forced financial institutions to limit many pro-consumer, non-telemarketing communications.”

A copy of CBA’s full letter is available here.

In March the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated portions of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) overly broad 2015 interpretation of the TCPA. CBA believes the FCC should re-evaluate the definition of automatic dialers in a way that allows legitimate businesses to contact existing customers. CBA’s letter also requested the FCC to continue its pursuit of a reassigned numbers database. 

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