CFPB Taking on Chatbots

The Biden Administration is pushing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to investigate banks’ use of chatbots and to address customer service “doom loops” in a broader effort to prioritize consumers’ time. The White House said that the CFPB plans to release guidance to help consumers with these issues.

“Companies often deliberately design their business processes to be time-consuming or otherwise burdensome for consumers, in order to deter them from getting a rebate or refund they are due or canceling a subscription or membership they no longer want — all with the goal of maximizing profits,” the White House wrote in its introduction to the “Time is Money” initiative, according to Banking Dive.

The White House noted that chatbots should improve customer service with quick response times, rather than help companies avoid giving refunds. The CFPB will identify when chatbots or AI voice recordings are being utilized unlawfully, including when consumers believe they are speaking with a real person.

The CFPB is set to establish a rule requiring companies to allow customers to easily talk to a person by pressing a single button. In a recent survey, the top customer service complaint was being forced to listen to long messages before being permitted to speak to a live representative.

“Too often, customers seeking assistance from a real person are instead sent through a maze of menu options and automated recordings, wasting their time and failing to get the support they need,” the White House said.

Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services is set to urge health care providers to make it simpler for consumers to talk to real people as part of the initiative. The Federal Trade Commission will also launch an inquiry into how phone, cable, and broadband companies can do the same.