In September, we reported that the CFPB’s Office of Servicemember Affairs had issued a request for information about the consumer financial services and products and financial education opportunities being offered to servicemembers and their families. Last week, the CFPB used the responses it received to that request (which included responses from 43 credit unions, 8 banks and 2 non-bank financial institutions) to organize five panels who spoke at a Financial Fitness Forum held by the CFPB in Washington, D.C. on the financial challenges faced by servicemembers and their families. One of those panels consisted of senior representatives from the financial services industry, another consisted of senior enlisted members from each branch of the military and a third had representatives from Treasury, FHFA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Financial Services Roundtable.

We view the forum as a welcome opportunity for the CFPB to provide information to the financial services industry about the financial needs of the military community and obtain a better understanding of the challenges the industry faces in trying to serve those needs. We hope the CFPB will create similar opportunities for a cooperative dialogue with industry when approaching other issues.