CFPB Employs “Mystery Shoppers” to Investigate Allegations of Discrimination

With the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) now employing mystery shoppers, financial institutions must ensure that their branches are actually putting non-decimation policies into practice.  As we reported here on July 1, BancorpSouth, a Mississippi-based bank, recently entered into a $10.6M settlement with the CFPB regarding alleged redlining in the Memphis market.  That investigation was the CFPB’s first use of testing, also called “mystery shopping,” as an investigative tool.  This practice, which has long been in use by the Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, involves sending both white and African American individuals into branch offices to determine whether white customers are treated more favorably than African American customers.