Holly Petraeus visits Malmstrom, teaches Airmen financial lifesavers

  • Published
  • By Airman Collin Schmidt
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  Holly Petraeus, Assistant Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, visited Malmstrom Air Force Base Feb. 23, to speak with Airmen regarding consumer financial protection and how the bureau she works with helps military members and their families.

Specifically, her job is to focus on military members' financial needs, educate them on how to make the best financial decisions and show them what avenues of help there are for those members who are in need.

According to Petraeus, the mission of her office is to work with federal, state and local partners to address the financial concerns of service members, veterans and their families, and provide them with information and tools to help them make the right financial decisions and avoid being taken advantage of by unfair financial business practices.

Throughout her visit to Malmstrom, Petraeus held more than eight meetings with Airmen, officers, key spouses, veterans, military family members and wing leadership.

"My agency is a federal startup, if you will," said Petraeus. "We were just created about four and a half years ago in response to the economic crash that happened in 2007 and 2008. The decision by the president and Congress (in response to the crash) was, in part, to create a new federal agency to protect consumers so something like that would not happen again. When the law was written to create the agency it also stated that there would be an office for the military, which is the office that I head up."

Petraeus' mission can be broken down into three categories.

"The first part of my mission, which was written into the statute, was to see that military personnel and their families get the financial education they need to make better informed consumer decisions," said Petraeus. "We try to educate military members on the pitfalls that are out there so they can make better decisions."

Secondly, her office monitors the military complaints that come into the bureau. Any service member can file a complaint with the office. In its simplest form, the complaint system addresses issues that impact service members, veterans, and their family members when they experience difficulties with businesses that provide financial products and services to military consumers.  These can include banks, credit unions, pay-day lenders, private student lenders, mortgage brokers, credit reporting bureaus and debt collectors.

"The third thing I do is work with other federal and state agencies on consumer protection measures for the military," said Petraeus. "All of that really applies to the Airmen and their families who live and work here at Malmstrom as well as the National Guard and Reserve in Montana too."

Since its inception, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has helped return more than $11 billion back to U.S. customers and more than $200 million of that to service members, said Petraeus.

"We've been able to see some good changes," said Petraeus. "I also think that companies are paying more attention to customer service because we make our complaint database public. Anybody can go on our website and take a look at it. No one's personal information is revealed on there but it is interesting to look and see what companies are being complained about and what the big issues are.

"I think we've moved the needle in customer service and that makes me happy," she continued.

The agency is still very new, so helping people become aware of the help that is out there is one of their main goals. A service member page is also available for those looking for more information.

"I really want (service members) to know that there is a place now where they can go and say 'I have a problem,'" said Petraeus. "We can do something that can help not just each person individually but also a whole lot of people.

"Please put the word out," she continued. "It really is an honor to represent the military at the bureau. We understand military life and we all feel very lucky that we can work on their behalf in Washington."

For more information on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Office of Service Member Affairs and what they can do to help military members, visit consumerfinance.gov/servicemembers