The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has postponed the effective date of a new rule designed to protect consumers who electronically transfer money from the United States to other countries.
Slated to start on Feb. 7, the Bureau’s international remittance transfer rule, now delayed until later this year, stems from a requirement of the Dodd-Frank Act that foreign-bound money transfers be covered by existing federal consumer protection regulations, doing so by expanding the scope of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act. Initially drafted by the Bureau in February 2012, it requires providers to disclose fees, taxes, and exchange rate information. Consumers also gain new error resolution and cancellation rights. In August, the CFPB updated the rule in order to make the transfer process easier for institutions handling 100 or fewer wire transfers a year, exempting them from new requirements unless they surpass that threshold.
