Consumer Action is a nonprofit, consumer education and advocacy center, serving consumers in the United States. Founded in 1971, the mission of Consumer Action is to help individual consumers assert their rights in the marketplace and to advance pro-consumer industry-wide change for the benefit of all. Consumer Action primarily achieves that mission by providing multi-lingual education, outreach, and advocacy services.
It has offices in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
,
Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
.
Mission
Consumer Action's mission is to educate and advocate for consumers, publish and disseminate free multilingual consumer educational materials and fight for laws and regulations that benefit consumers — not large businesses and corporations.
Overview
Consumer Action's frequent focus is consumer credit—and the related areas of credit cards, banking and finance, money management, and pricing; as well as health, housing, scams, fraud, privacy, and more. Consumer Action is well known for its annual Credit Card Survey.
Consumer Action works in collaboration with numerous consumer protection, consumer advocacy organizations, and coalitions to file commentary on government legislation and briefs, such as ''Fair and Reasonable Fee for Credit Score Disclosure'' and for the publication of education and informational resources, such as ''Consumer Privacy Guide'' published jointly with: the
Center for Democracy & Technology,
Common Cause, the
National Consumers League
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is an American consumer organization. The National Consumers League is a private, nonprofit advocacy group representing consumers on marketplace and workplace issues. The NCL provides government, bu ...
, and the
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
Consumer Action is a
consumer protection,
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
, and
advocacy organization, as quantified by the
Urban Institute
The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that carries out economic and social policy research to "open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions". The institute receives funding from government contracts, foundations and pr ...
's National Center for Charitable Statistics. It is often cited in consumer education campaigns and interviews, like ABC's the View from the Bay.
Credit Card Survey
In June 1986, in collaboration with the
Consumer Federation
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) is a non-profit organization founded in 1968 to advance consumer interests through research, education and advocacy.
According to CFA's website, its members are nearly 300 consumer-oriented non-profits, w ...
, Consumer Action introduced the ''Consumer Action Credit Card Survey'', an annual survey of credit cards, banks, and lending practices. The survey has become well known for highlighting hidden practices of credit card vendors that are anti-consumer.
The annual survey has highlighted
predatory lending practices; and has been used to gain the attention of lawmakers. Don Oldenburg, of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' sites the highlighting of questionable lending and payment practices as one of the resources used for Congress and federal bank regulators to these questionable and costly practices.
Congress, a House bill called "The Consumer Credit Card Protection Act" would prohibit arbitrary universal default penalties. Another bill, "The Loan Shark Prevention Act," would establish a fair cap on credit card interest rates.
The survey has been quoted and used local and national sources, such as ''Smart Money'', ''CNN Money'', and ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''.
['']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', 20 December 1998
PRACTICAL TRAVELER; Card Users Face Increasing Fees
/ref>
See also
* Consumer Federation of America
The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) is a non-profit organization founded in 1968 to advance consumer interests through research, education and advocacy.
According to CFA's website, its members are nearly 300 consumer-oriented non-profits, w ...
References
Consumer organizations in the United States
Organizations established in 1971
1971 establishments in the United States