Regulation — banking-specific
CFPB Circular 2023-03 — AI-driven marketing + targeting inside the UDAAP frame
Where Circular 2022-03 addressed the AI adverse-action notice, Circular 2023-03 addressed the front of the funnel: AI-driven marketing, pre-approval, and targeting. When AI selects who sees which credit offer at which terms, the UDAAP tests bite there too.
What the Circular actually says
"Digital marketing providers that are involved in the identification or selection of prospective customers or the selection or placement of content to affect consumer behavior are typically service providers for purposes of the Consumer Financial Protection Act. … Covered persons using digital marketing providers may be liable for unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices carried out by those providers."
CFPB Circular 2023-03 (August 2023) — service-provider liability
"The Bureau's regulations make clear that the CFPA's provisions apply to service providers … and covered persons are ultimately responsible for compliance with Federal consumer financial law by their service providers."
CFPB Circular 2023-03 — ultimate responsibility remains with the bank
What this means in plain English
Three practical implications when the bank uses AI-driven marketing or pre-approval:
- Vendor is a service provider. The AI-marketing vendor is not an arm's-length actor for CFPB purposes; the bank owns the vendor's compliance stance.
- Selection = practice. When AI chooses who sees which offer, the selection itself is an "act or practice" that can be unfair / deceptive / abusive.
- Funnel top feeds funnel bottom. Marketing steers the applicant flow that the credit-underwriting model then scores. Silent bias at the top compounds silently at the bottom.
What triggers the exposure in the sample
Marketing outreach into mixed lower-income zips grew B3 share by 30% post-Day 45. That outreach is exactly the "digital marketing that identifies prospective customers" the Circular addresses. When the AI credit-underwriting engine then declined that inflated applicant flow at 62% frequency, the funnel that produced the class-scale harm sits inside CFPB's service-provider frame.
What the $499 Snapshot shows against this rule
- Documented funnel-composition shift — the applicant-mix change that ties marketing to underwriting
- Per-borrower-group outcomes analysis — the disparate-impact evidence at the underwriting layer
- 3 fix-first items scoped to the marketing + underwriting seam — the joint remediation frame
- Independent-verifier declaration — the diligence record covering both vendor layers
Read the full scenario walkthrough →
$499 Snapshot. 3 business days.
Independent record spanning the marketing-to-underwriting funnel — the diligence CFPB looks for on both ends.
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Snapshot credit applies to Baseline ($2,500) or Enterprise Attestation ($35-55K) upgrade within 30 days.