The CFPB has allowed financial institutions more time to complywith its revised remittance rule, which requires providers todisclose certain third-party fees and any exchange rate that willapply to the transfer of funds.

The CFPB's final rule extends the temporary exception by five years until July 21,2020. The rule was originally proposed in April.

“The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Actcontains an exception that explicitly allows federally insuredfinancial institutions, like banks and credit unions, to estimatethird-party fees and exchange rates when providing remittancetransfers to their account holders for which they cannot determineexact amounts,” the CFPB said in a press release Friday. “Insuredinstitutions can only use this exception when they cannot determinethe exact amounts for reasons beyond their control.”

Credit union trade organizations welcomed the revisions butexpressed continued concern with the rule's annual threshold of 100transactions.

“NAFCU welcomes the extension and our members are happy to seethe bureau explicitly specify that U.S. military installationslocated abroad are states for the purposes of the remittance rule,”Director of Regulatory Affairs Michael Coleman said.

“NAFCU and our members, however, remain concerned about theoverall rule and the incredible burden it places on any creditunion facilitating more than 100 remittances yearly for itsmembers. As it stands, this rule is pushing credit unions out ofthe market,” he added.

Mary Dunn, CUNA senior vice president and deputy generalcounsel, shared a similar view.

“We don't feel that the CFPB has gone nearly far enough inproviding an exemption for credit unions under the remittance law,”Dunn said on Monday during CUNA's weekly press call. “There is anexemption of a 100 transfers per year but we think this is far toosmall a figure.”

In announcing the extension, the CFPB said if the temporaryexception expired in July 2015, current market conditions wouldmake it impossible for insured institutions to know the exact feesand exchange rates associated with a minority of their remittancetransfers.

However, the CFPB also said it is not able to authorize anyextension past July 21, 2020. The bureau said financialinstitutions can use the additional five years to develop“reasonable ways to provide consumers with exact fees and exchangerates for all remittance disclosures.”

“It is critical that consumers can send money abroad safely,”CFPB Director Richard Cordray said. “Today's final rule will helpensure these changes are implemented smoothly and that consumerswill be well-protected during that process.”