Re: Public Notice, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Seeks Input for Second Staff Report on Call Blocking, Advanced Methods To Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls, Call Authentication Trust Anchor, CG Docket No. 17-59, WC Docket No. 17-97 (Apr. 13, 2021)
Ms. Marlene H. Dortch Secretary Federal Communications Commission 45 L Street, NE Washington, DC 20554
Dear Ms. Dortch:
The American Bankers Association (ABA) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the request by the Federal Communications Commission’s (Commission) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) for input for its second Call Blocking Report. Among other topics related to call blocking, the Bureau seeks information, for the time period of March 1, 2020 to the present, on the “effectiveness of call-blocking tools offered to consumers” and, more specifically, how well existing tools remedy false positives (i.e., legitimate calls that are erroneously blocked).
ABA shares the Commission’s goals of protecting consumers from illegal automated calls while ensuring that consumers continue to receive important, often time-sensitive, informational calls from their bank and other companies with which they do business. Customers are harmed when their banks’ outbound calling numbers are mislabeled, or calls from those numbers are blocked, because they may not receive lawful calls affecting their financial health or well-being. These calls include, for example, fraud alerts, data security breach notifications, servicing calls, and past-due notifications. It is critical for customers that these calls be completed without delay. For some calls, whether the call is completed “can have life or death consequences for the intended recipient,” as the Senate recognized when passing the TRACED Act in 2019.
Download the comment letter to read the full text.
