Paging Mr. Bernanke: Credit Card Marketers May Be Breaking the Law

Published

August 19, 2021

Contributing writer for Credit.com, Chris graduated with honors from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and has reported for a number of publications including The New York Times, TIME magazine and Popular Mechanics.

According to a recent poll by University of Houston professor Jim Hawkins, and reported on by our own Farnoosh Torabi, credit card companies are still marketing their products on college campuses. Almost a third of the freshmen polled by Hawkins reported seeing credit card hawkers on campus.

One little problem: That’s illegal. According to a new rule by the Federal Reserve, credit card marketers have to stay at least 1,000 feet away from university campuses and university-sponsored events (like, say, big bowl games).

So if someone is breaking that rule, whose job is it to enforce it? Right now the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) itself is the enforcement agency. When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gets up and running later this year, the power to enforce the rule will transfer to it, Hawkins says.

That’s good news, because the Fed appears to have other things on its mind. Until the consumers bureau takes over, students may be left on their own. Which would mean individual students or other concerned consumers would need to hire their own lawyers to enforce the law and keep credit card marketers off campus.

“I haven’t heard if the FRB is actively enforcing the rules yet,” Hawkins says, “but private individuals are able to now.”

Image: Shaun Greiner, via Flickr.com