RSSThe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has finalized revisions to its international money remittances rule which will extend an exemption for certain remittances.
The CFPB’s rule requires remittance transfer providers to disclose certain third-party fees, as well as any exchange rate that will apply to the transfer. The finalized revisions mainly dealt with extending an exemption for certain remittances where an estimate of costs cannot be made for reasons outside an institution’s control.
That exception was set to expire on July 21, 2015, but the CFPB has extended the exemption for five years.
“If the temporary exception expired in July 2015, current market conditions would make it impossible for insured institutions to know the exact fees and exchange rates associated with a minority of their remittance transfers,” the bureau said in a press release. “Without the exemption, these insured institutions reported that they would have been unable to send some transfers to certain parts of the world that they currently serve.”
The bureau said it would not extend the exemption beyond July 2020 because the extension gives institutions enough time “to develop reasonable ways to provide consumers with exact fees and exchange rates for all remittance disclosures.”
The revisions were proposed in April after some financial institutions expressed concern that they would be unable to obtain exact numbers from certain third parties. Cost estimates for remittances can be more difficult to obtain with open-network transfers, such as wire transfers, because multiple parties can be involved.
“It is critical that consumers can send money abroad safely,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Today’s final rule will help ensure these changes are implemented smoothly and that consumers will be well-protected during that process.”
The CFPB also released a revised compliance guide for the industry reflecting changes made in the finalized rule.
