At a Senate Banking Committee hearing Wednesday, U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly highlighted several new consumer protection provisions he authored, some of which recently went into effect. The provisions allow all Americans to freeze and unfreeze their credit free of charge, set year-long fraud alerts, and more easily manage their credit files. The provisions were enacted in May as part of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which Donnelly negotiated and co-wrote to reduce regulatory burdens on community banks and credit unions and strengthen consumer protections.
Donnelly said, in part, at the hearing, “Americans deserve the ability to monitor and protect their credit files from criminals seeking to steal their identities…Due to these three provisions, consumers, servicemembers, and veterans can now better protect their credit files and safeguard their personal information against fraud and identity theft.”
The provisions Donnelly highlighted at today’s hearing:
- As of September 21, every American can now freeze and unfreeze their credit files and set year-long fraud alerts, all free of charge;
- Starting next year, active-duty servicemembers will receive free credit monitoring to make sure their credit files are kept safe while they keep us safe; and
- Veterans will no longer be penalized by medical payment delays at the Department of Veterans Affairs and can more easily remove VA-related mistakes from their credit files.
The witnesses at today’s hearing were:
- Joseph Otting, Comptroller of the Currency;
- Randal Quarles, Vice Chairman at the Federal Reserve;
- Jelena McWilliams, Chairwoman of the FDIC; and
- Mark McWatters, Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration
Comptroller Otting lauded Donnelly’s efforts at the hearing, “I commend you on your efforts. I think this is an important part for consumers to be aware of and have availability…The provisions we recently put in under your leadership are going to make consumers are going to make consumers more able to monitor risks.”
Similarly, Chairman McWatters said at the hearing, “I thank you, Senator, for your leadership on this very, very important area.”
