Complaint or Question About Your Financial Institution?
We do a lot of things here at BauerFinancial, but since we are a private research firm, and not a government agency, fielding complaints about financial institutions is not really one of them. However, we know that sometimes things do happen and in that regrettable event, you need to know to whom you can turn for help. To that end, we are providing this guide.
If you think your financial institution:
- has been unfair or misleading,
- discriminated against you in lending,
- violated a federal consumer protection law or regulation, or
- if you have any other dispute
with a bank or credit union, you will want to contact the entity that supervises or regulates that institution. Knowing what entity that is (or are), though, can be a challenge, to say the least.
The following table should serve as a guide, but bear in mind, you do not have to limit yourself to one agency.
Bauer’s Star-Ratings are based on the financial condition of the institution, so customer complaints are only a factor if they lead to a formal regulatory enforcement action.
Enforcement Actions come in many shapes and sizes and each action that is made public is scrutinized by Bauer’s analysts to determine whether it impacts the safety or soundness of the institution.
If our team determines that it does, then a downgrade in star-rating may be in order. This is precisely why we are careful to say Star Ratings are subject to change at anytime. While quarterly financial data is predictable, other things (like enforcement actions) are not.
All Bank Star-Ratings have just been updated based on third quarter 2019 financial data; Credit Union ratings will be out soon.
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Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation In addition to insuring all banks, the FDIC supervises State-chartered banks that are NOT members of the Federal Reserve System. 877.275.3342 (877-ASKFDIC) Hearing Impaired 800.925.4618 |
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Or OCC, is the primary regulator for National Banks and Federal Savings Associations. 800.613.6743 TTY 800.877.8339 https://www.helpwithmybank.gov/complaints/index-file-a-bank-complaint.html |
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Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve supervises State-chartered banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. 888-851-1920 TTY 877.766.8533 |
National Credit Union Administration Or NCUA supervises and regulates all Federal Credit Unions. 800.755.1030 |
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Each State State-chartered banks and credit unions are all regulated by the Department of Financial Institutions for their state. We are not going to list them all here, but you can find them by conducting an internet search on “department of banking” or “department of financial institutions” + the “state” name.
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The CFPB is the secondary regulator for all of the aforementioned and in addition to taking your complaints, it offers a wide variety of help on money topics. 855.411.2372 |