The CFPB’s Office of Servicemember Affairs wants to know what consumer financial services and products and financial education opportunities are now offered to servicemembers and their families. These are among the questions the Office has asked in a request for information published today.  According to the Office, the answers it obtains will help it develop a knowledge base that will inform its planning not only for monitoring complaints from servicemembers and their families as required by the Dodd-Frank Act but also for fulfilling the Act’s mandate that the CFPB provide financial education to the military community.

Since nearly everyone agrees that consumer financial illiteracy is a huge national problem, providing opportunities for consumer financial education is perhaps the most important function the CFPB can perform until it has a Director. We’re glad to see that the Office of Servicemember Affairs is taking steps to develop its action plan for improving the financial literacy of servicemembers and their families.