WASHINGTON — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra on Tuesday defended the agency’s proposal to lower credit card late fees against criticism from Republicans at a Senate Banking hearing.
Republicans criticized the proposal, saying credit card issuers would find other ways to recoup the cost of late payments that would make loans more expensive or elusive for low- and middle-income borrowers.
“There is no free lunch,” said Banking ranking member Tim Scott, R-S.C. “You can’t just take away a fee and assume that it’s gone. You have to understand that taking away the fee only means that you’re going to paint it into the overall structure and cost associated with that institution.”
