The latest monthly complaint snapshot from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau focuses on money transfer issues and complaints from Georgia consumers.
Most of the approximately 5,100 complaints about money transfers – 42 percent – dealt with fraud, with many perpetrators posing as family members in need of funds. Other issues were problems completing a transfer, lack of adequate customer service and error resolution difficulties.
In Georgia, mortgages account for a third of the 31,300 complaints the CFPB has received as of Dec. 1, slightly higher than the national rate of 27 percent. Nearly 24,000 of the state’s complaints come from the Atlanta area. Besides mortgages, Georgia generally follows national trends.
Nationwide, debt collection and mortgages were the most complained about categories, accounting for 49 percent. Complaints about prepaid products saw the largest increase from 2014, with a 215 percent jump, while payday lending saw the biggest decrease at 14 percent.
As of Dec. 1, the CFPB handled more than 770,100 complaints across all products.
“People rely on the money transfer process to make payments and take care of family members that they cannot be with,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Through rules on international money transfers and continued supervision of this important financial service, the bureau is working to make sure that consumers can easily send money without having to worry about delays or hidden fees.”
Previous monthly snapshots have focused on bank account or service issues and complaints from Connecticut consumers; credit card issues and complaints from Chicago consumers; mortgage issues and complaints from Denver consumers; credit reporting issues and complaints from Los Angeles consumers and debt collection issues and complaints from Milwaukee consumers.