Wheeler Concerned About Overly Complicated Wireless Bills, CFPB Chief Says
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler believes wireless bills sent to consumers should be simplified, said Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Wednesday in an appearance on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show. “You should always look at the bill,” Cordray…
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said. “But if the bill is confusing, you can look at it carefully and still not understand it.” Wheeler “and I have talked about this,” Cordray said. “We’ve agreed that it would be a good thing to try to simplify and streamline those bills.” Cordray said CFPB has pushed a “know before you owe” concept for credit card bills, mortgages and prepaid cards. “That would be an improvement,” he said. Cordray also cited as a success story Sprint and Verizon agreements in May to pay a combined $158 million in penalties and redress for wireless cramming violations (see 1505120047). The charges looked “fairly innocent” but added up and were “actually a total fraud,” Cordray said. The four major carriers -- AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon -- had agreed more than a year earlier to stop billing for commercial premium SMS programs (see 1407020108). The FCC and CTIA had no comment.