Proposed Rule2025-15088
Defining Larger Participants of the Consumer Reporting Market
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Published
August 8, 2025
Issuing agencies
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Abstract
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) is seeking information to assist it in considering whether to propose a rule to amend the test to define larger participants in the consumer reporting market established by the Bureau's Defining Larger Participants of the Consumer Reporting Market Final Rule published on July 20, 2012 (Consumer Reporting Larger Participant Rule).
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 151 (Friday, August 8, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 151 (Friday, August 8, 2025)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 38409-38412]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-15088]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 151 / Friday, August 8, 2025 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 38409]]
CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU
12 CFR Part 1090
[Docket No. CFPB-2025-0031]
RIN 3170-AB52
Defining Larger Participants of the Consumer Reporting Market
AGENCY: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) is
seeking information to assist it in considering whether to propose a
rule to amend the test to define larger participants in the consumer
reporting market established by the Bureau's Defining Larger
Participants of the Consumer Reporting Market Final Rule published on
July 20, 2012 (Consumer Reporting Larger Participant Rule).
DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 22, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may submit responsive information and other comments,
identified by Docket No. CFPB-2025-0031, by any of the following
methods:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fccecccec9d1bdb2acaed1bf8e99989588ae998c938e8895929bbc9f9a8c9ed29b938a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="043634363129454a545629477661606d705661746b76706d6a6344676274662a636b72">[email protected]</span></a>. Include Docket
No. CFPB-2025-0031 in the subject line of the message.
<bullet> Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Comment Intake--Defining
Larger Participants of the Consumer Reporting Market 2025, c/o Legal
Division Docket Manager, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G
Street NW, Washington, DC 20552.
Instructions: The CFPB encourages the early submission of comments.
All submissions should include the agency name and docket number.
Additionally, where the Bureau has asked for specific comment on a
topic, commenters should seek to highlight the topic to which their
comment is applicable. Because paper mail is subject to delay,
commenters are encouraged to submit comments electronically. In
general, all comments received will be posted without change to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. All submissions, including attachments and other
supporting materials, will become part of the public record and subject
to public disclosure. Proprietary information or sensitive personal
information, such as account numbers or Social Security numbers, or
names of other individuals, should not be included. Submissions will
not be edited to remove any identifying or contact information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dave Gettler, Paralegal Specialist,
Office of Regulations, at 202-435-7700. If you require this document in
an alternative electronic format, please contact
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f0b3b6a0b2afb193939583839992999c998489b093968092de979f86"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f6b5b0a6b4a9b795959385859f949f9a9f828fb695908694d8919980">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bureau is seeking information in order
to consider whether to propose a rule to amend the test to define
larger participants in the consumer reporting market. Currently, a
nonbank covered person is a larger participant of the consumer
reporting market if the nonbank covered person has more than $7 million
in annual receipts resulting from relevant consumer reporting
activities. The Bureau is concerned that the benefits of the current
threshold may not justify the compliance burdens for many of the
entities that are currently considered larger participants in this
market, and that the current threshold may be diverting limited Bureau
resources to determine whom among the universe of providers may be
subject to the Bureau's supervisory authority and whether these
providers should be examined in a particular year.
I. Background
Section 1024 of the CFPA,\1\ codified at 12 U.S.C. 5514, gives the
Bureau supervisory authority over all nonbank covered persons \2\
offering or providing three enumerated types of consumer financial
products or services: (1) origination, brokerage, or servicing of
consumer loans secured by real estate and related mortgage loan
modification or foreclosure relief services; (2) private education
loans; and (3) payday loans.\3\ The Bureau also has supervisory
authority over ``larger participant[s] of a market for other consumer
financial products or services, as defined by rule[s]'' the CFPB
issues.\4\ To date, the Bureau has issued six rules defining larger
participants of markets for consumer financial products and services
for purposes of CFPA section 1024(a)(1)(B).\5\
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\1\ Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, title X of the
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Public
Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376, 1955 (2010) (hereinafter CFPA).
\2\ The provisions of 12 U.S.C. 5514 apply to certain categories
of covered persons, described in section (a)(1), and expressly
exclude from coverage persons described in 12 U.S.C. 5515(a) (very
large insured depository institutions and credit unions and their
affiliates) and 12 U.S.C. 5516(a) (other insured depository
institutions and credit unions). The term ``covered person'' means
``(A) any person that engages in offering or providing a consumer
financial product or service; and (B) any affiliate of a person
described [in (A)] if such affiliate acts as a service provider to
such person.'' 12 U.S.C. 5481(6).
\3\ 12 U.S.C. 5514(a)(1)(A), (D), (E).
\4\ 12 U.S.C. 5514(a)(1)(B), (a)(2); see also 12 U.S.C. 5481(5)
(defining ``consumer financial product or service'').
\5\ These six rules defined larger participants of markets for
consumer reporting, 77 FR 42874 (July 20, 2012) (Consumer Reporting
Rule); consumer debt collection, 77 FR 65775 (Oct. 31, 2012)
(Consumer Debt Collection Rule); student loan servicing, 78 FR 73383
(Dec. 6, 2013) (Student Loan Servicing Rule); international money
transfers, 79 FR 56631 (Sept. 23, 2014) (International Money
Transfer Rule); automobile financing, 80 FR 37496 (June 30, 2015)
(Automobile Financing Rule); and general-use digital consumer
payment applications, 89 FR 99582 (Dec. 10, 2024) (General-Use
Digital Payment Applications Rule). The Bureau is issuing advance
notices of proposed rulemakings to reconsider the test for defining
larger participants in the consumer reporting, consumer debt
collection, international money transfer, and automobile financing
markets. The Bureau will continue to assess whether it is
appropriate to reconsider the test for the student loan servicing
market. The General-Use Digital Payment Applications Rule was made
ineffective by a joint resolution of disapproval by Congress under
the Congressional Review Act. S.J.Res.28--119th Congress (2025-
2026), Public Law 119-11; see also 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.
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The Bureau published the Consumer Reporting Larger Participant Rule
on July 20, 2012.\6\ The final rule defined a consumer reporting market
that covers consumer reporting agencies selling comprehensive consumer
reports, consumer report resellers, and specialty consumer reporting
agencies. It established that nonbank covered persons with more than $7
million in annual receipts resulting from relevant consumer reporting
activities would be considered larger participants in this market.\7\
The consumer reporting market includes consumer reporting agencies
[[Page 38410]]
selling consumer reports, consumer report resellers, analyzers of
consumer reports and other account information (analyzers), and
specialty consumer reporting agencies (collectively referred to as
consumer reporting entities). As a general matter, some consumer
reporting agencies collect, among other information, information about
credit accounts, items sent for collection, and public records such as
judgments and bankruptcies. Resellers purchase consumer information
from one or more of the agencies that collect information, typically
provide further input to the consumer report (including by merging
files from multiple agencies or adding information from other data
sources), and then resell the report to lenders and other users.
Analyzers apply statistical and other methods to consumer reports and
other account information to facilitate the interpretation of such
information and its use in decisions regarding other products and
services. Certain analyzers develop and sell credit scoring services
and products. Specialty consumer reporting agencies primarily collect
and provide specific types of information that may be used to make
decisions regarding particular consumer financial products or services,
such as payday loans or checking accounts, or for other determinations,
such as eligibility for employment or rental housing. However, some of
these specialty consumer reporting agencies, depending on their
activities, may not be engaged in offering or providing consumer
financial products or services within the meaning of the CFPA, and
therefore would not, on the basis of their activities, become ``covered
persons'' subject to the Bureau's supervisory authority.\8\ The Bureau
implemented these exclusions in the definition of ``consumer
reporting'' in the final rule.
The final rule established a test, based on ``annual receipts,'' to
assess whether a nonbank covered person that offers or provides
consumer reporting is a larger participant of the consumer reporting
market. The definition of ``annual receipts'' was adapted from the
definition of the term used by the Small Business Administration (SBA)
for purposes of defining small business concerns. The final rule
adopted the proposed test for qualifying as a larger participant of the
consumer reporting market: more than $7 million in annual receipts
resulting from relevant consumer reporting activities. Covered persons
meeting the test qualify as larger participants and are subject to the
Bureau's supervision authority under 12 U.S.C. 5514. The test to assess
larger-participant status set forth in the final rule was tailored to
the consumer reporting market identified by the rule.
When the Consumer Reporting Larger Participant Rule was issued in
2012, the CFPB analyzed Economic Census data. Since then, the U.S.
Census Bureau in cooperation with the Small Business Administration
Office of Advocacy has developed an additional potentially relevant
data source called Statistics of U.S. Businesses (SUSB) described in
more detail at <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/susb/about.html">https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/susb/about.html</a>.
Below, this notice describes data from both sources and solicits public
input on the data and sources, including analysis by commenters of the
significance of any differences in the data and sources.
The 2022 Economic Census data displayed below shows the latest
information about the number of firms in NAICS code 561450 (Credit
Bureaus) for different revenue bins. The 2022 Economic Census data
indicates that the 10 firms with revenue of $100 million or more
accounted for about 70 percent of the total revenue of all credit
bureaus in this NAICS code. By contrast, the firms with less than $41
million in revenues accounted for about 15 percent of the total revenue
of all credit bureaus in this NAICS code.\9\
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Revenue bins (entities operating
No. firms over the course of all of 2022)
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22................................ Revenue less than $100,000.
34................................ Revenue of $100,000 to $249,999.
22................................ Revenue of $250,000 to $499,999.
37................................ Revenue of $500,000 to $999,999.
42................................ Revenue of $1,000,000 to $2,499,999.
24................................ Revenue of $2,500,000 to $4,999,999.
18................................ Revenue of $5,000,000 to $9,999,999.
20................................ Revenue of $10,000,000 to
$24,999,999.
17................................ Revenue of $25,000,000 to
$99,999,999.
10................................ Revenue of $100,000,000 or more.
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Meanwhile, the 2022 SUSB data displayed below shows the latest
information about the number of firms in NAICS code 561450 (Credit
Bureaus) for different revenue bins.\10\ The 2022 SUSB data indicates
that the 23 firms with reported revenue of $100 million or more
accounted for about 95 percent of the total revenue of all credit
bureaus in this NAICS code. By contrast, the firms with less than $41
million in reported revenues accounted for less than 5 percent of the
total revenue of all credit bureaus in this NACIS code.
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\6\ 77 FR 42874.
\7\ 12 CFR 1090.104(b).
\8\ See 12 U.S.C. 5481(15)(A)(ix). Under the final rule,
``consumer reporting'' does not include the activities of a person
to the extent that a person provides consumer report or other
account information that is used or expected to be used solely
regarding a decision for employment, government licensing, or a
residential lease or tenancy involving a consumer, or to be used
solely in any decision regarding the offering or provision of a
product or service that is not a consumer financial product or
service.
\9\ Likely, not all the firms in this NAICS code offer or
provide consumer reporting as defined in the Consumer Reporting
Larger Participant Rule. However, previous Bureau work suggests that
approximately 75 percent of the firms in NAICS code 561450 offer or
provide consumer reporting as defined in the Consumer Reporting
Larger Participant Rule. See Consumer Reporting Larger Participant
Rule, 77 FR at 42888 n.72.
\10\ Specific firm counts might not be reported in the SUSB
published tables due to confidentiality reasons. This occurs when
reporting a small number of firms within a size class might allow
identification of individual firms.
[[Page 38411]]
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Revenue bins (entities operating
No. firms over the course of all of 2022)
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37................................ Revenue less than $100,000.
73................................ Revenue of $100,000 to $499,999.
34................................ Revenue of $500,000 to $999,999.
34................................ Revenue of $1,000,000 to $2,499,999.
22................................ Revenue of $2,500,000 to $4,999,999.
13................................ Revenue of $5,000,000 to $7,499,999.
7................................. Revenue of $7,500,000 to $9,999,999.
8................................. Revenue of $10,000,000 to
$14,999,999 .
7................................. Revenue of $15,000,000 to
$19,999,999.
Revenue of $20,000,000 to
$24,999,999.
3................................. Revenue of $25,000,000 to
$29,999,999.
Revenue of $30,000,000 to
$49,999,999.
3................................. Revenue of $50,000,000 to
$74,999,999.
Revenue of $75,000,000 to
$99,999,999.
23................................ Revenue of $100,000,000 or more.
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When the Consumer Reporting Larger Participant Rule was issued in
2012, the SBA small-business threshold for NAICS code 561450 was $7
million in annual revenues. Today, the corresponding threshold is $41
million in annual revenues. Although there is some variation between
the Economic Census and SUSB data, according to the tables above there
are about 250 total entities, of which fewer than 30 are above the
current SBA threshold of $41 million in annual revenues for small
businesses in NAICS code 561450.\11\ There are about 30 firms as of
2022 (representing slightly more than 10 percent of the total number of
small entities in the NAICS code) with an annual revenue that falls
between the threshold of $7 million in annual receipts set by the
Consumer Reporting Larger Participant Rule and the threshold of $41
million in annual revenues set by the SBA as the size standard for
small businesses in NAICS code 561450. This figure may estimate the
number of small entities that are directly affected by the Consumer
Reporting Larger Participant Rule.\12\ However, the number of small
entities affected by the Consumer Reporting Larger Participant Rule is
likely less than 30 because the companies' annual revenues likely
exceed their annual receipts from relevant consumer reporting
activities.
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\11\ Small Business Administration, Table of Small Business Size
Standards Matched to North American Industry Classification System
Codes, <a href="https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/Table%20of%20Size%20Standards_Effective%20March%2017%2C%202023%20%282%29.pdf">https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/Table%20of%20Size%20Standards_Effective%20March%2017%2C%202023%20%282%29.pdf</a>.
\12\ See https://data.census.gov/
table?q=EC2200SIZEREVEST&y=2022&codeset=naics~N0600.00:N0600.56
(accessed 5/20/25).
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Based on its risk-based prioritization process, the Bureau's
examinations of entities under the Consumer Reporting Larger
Participant Rule have, with very limited exceptions, focused on
entities with annual receipts that significantly exceed the $7 million
threshold as well as the SBA's $41 million annual revenue threshold.
More specifically, the vast majority of companies the Bureau has
examined pursuant to the Consumer Reporting Larger Participant Rule
have had annual receipts exceeding $50 million. Based on the Bureau's
supervisory experience, the Bureau estimates that increasing the annual
receipts threshold to match the SBA annual revenue threshold of $41
million would leave at least six larger participants in the market.\13\
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\13\ This estimate of market participants is preliminary and
based on limited data. This estimate may change in any future
rulemaking.
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II. Executive Order 12866
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) has determined that this action is a
``significant regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866, as
amended. Accordingly, OMB has reviewed this action.
III. Questions
As discussed above, the Bureau is concerned that the benefits of
supervisory authority over nonbank covered persons with more than $7
million in annual receipts resulting from relevant consumer reporting
activities may not justify the costs of increased compliance burdens
for many entities that are considered larger participants under the
current test.\14\ The Bureau is particularly concerned that smaller
businesses that now qualify as larger participants may be
disproportionately impacted by the current threshold.\15\ The Bureau is
also concerned that the pool of entities subject to supervision may be
too broad and is potentially diverting limited Bureau resources to
determine who is a larger participant and whether those entities should
be examined in a particular year. Finally, the Bureau notes that it has
not evaluated whether changes in the consumer reporting market call for
updating the test to define larger participants since it published the
Consumer Reporting Larger Participant Rule over twelve years ago. As
the Bureau noted in that rule, it always ``expect[ed] to make
adjustments to the threshold through future rulemakings to reflect not
only inflation, but also other shifts in the nature and structure of
the consumer reporting market and additional data as it becomes
available to the Bureau.'' \16\ The Bureau therefore seeks comment on
the topics and questions listed below in light of the Bureau's intent
to consider proposing to amend the test to define larger participants
in the consumer reporting market.
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\14\ For a discussion of compliance burdens, see generally
section IV.B of the Consumer Reporting Larger Participant Rule
(describing costs of increased compliance, costs of supervisory
activity, and costs of assessing larger participant status). 77 FR
42874, 42892-95.
\15\ For example, as indicated above, 2022 Economic Census Data
reports approximately 33 credit bureaus serving consumers and
businesses as having revenue between $7 million (the current annual
receipts threshold) and $41 million (the SBA size standard).
However, as also explained above, the number of credit bureaus that
qualify as larger participants under the Consumer Reporting Larger
Participant Rule is likely less than 33 because of the distinction
between annual receipts resulting from consumer reporting activities
and annual revenue.
\16\ Consumer Reporting Larger Participant Rule, 77 FR 42874 at
42891.
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1. Is $7 million in annual receipts resulting from relevant
consumer reporting activities an appropriate threshold for determining
which entities should be considered larger participants in the consumer
reporting market? If not, what annual receipts threshold or other
criterion (e.g., number of consumers or consumer files) and
[[Page 38412]]
associated threshold would be more appropriate and why?
2. How would consumers be impacted by a potential increase in the
threshold? Submissions of data related to the benefits or costs to
consumers of the current rule and any particular change to the
threshold are encouraged.
3. How would changing the current threshold for larger participants
alter the behavior of participants in the consumer reporting market?
How would these changes benefit or harm consumers and participants?
Would those changes in behavior have impacts beyond this specific
market?
4. How would changing the current threshold for larger participants
affect the Bureau's ability to address potential market failures in the
consumer reporting market and related areas?
5. What are the costs to covered entities that are specific to the
Bureau's supervisory authority for larger participants in the consumer
reporting market? Specific figures as to staffing, staff time, and
other resources are encouraged. How often are these costs incurred for
larger participants under the current rule who are close to the current
threshold for being larger participants?
6. What are the costs to covered persons from being a larger
participant that are not specific to the Bureau's supervisory
authority, but are specific to being a larger participant in the
consumer reporting market? For instance, are there costs to consumer
reporting firms of monitoring larger participant status, or costs
related to complying with relevant Federal statutes and regulations
beyond what the firm would find reasonable absent the possibility of
supervision?
7. Are there costs to covered persons from the current larger
participant rule that specifically apply to firms whose annual receipts
are lower than, but close to the threshold?
8. Are there costs or benefits to consumers, including rural
consumers, servicemembers, and veterans, of raising the larger
participant threshold?
9. Do small business concerns, as defined by the SBA, or other
smaller- or mid-size entities qualify as larger participants under the
current threshold in this market? Do these entities incur costs of
compliance with their larger participant status that are not in
proportion to their size relative to other larger participants in the
consumer reporting market?
10. Should the Bureau's test for defining larger participants in
the consumer reporting market account for the SBA's size standards? If
so, how?
11. Are there significant recordkeeping requirements that would be
reduced by raising the larger participant threshold?
12. What other specific costs or benefits, not mentioned above,
would a change in the larger participant threshold have for consumers
and covered persons?
13. Should the Bureau rely upon Economic Census data, SUSB data, or
other sources of data to inform estimates of the current size of the
firms in the consumer reporting market and the number of firms that may
qualify as larger participants? What additional sources of data, if
any, can reliably inform such estimates?
Russell Vought,
Acting Director, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2025-15088 Filed 8-7-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P
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