Gayla Huber joins CFPB consumer advisory board

Gayla Huber, president and founding partner of IntegriShield, has been appointed to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Consumer Advisory Board after a recommendation from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The appointment gives a regional consumer-protection voice a two-year seat advising the bureau on emerging financial products, practices, and technologies.

Why it matters: - Gayla Huber will help advise the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on consumer financial products, services, and new marketplace risks. - The appointment puts a digital fraud and advertising enforcement veteran into a federal advisory role focused on how products and practices affect consumers. - Huber will represent the Tenth Federal Reserve District, bringing regional marketplace perspective to the bureau’s work.

What happened: - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau appointed Huber to its Consumer Advisory Board upon the recommendation of the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. - Huber is president and founding partner of IntegriShield, an Overland Park, Kansas-based managed compliance platform founded in 2012. - Huber will serve a two-year term. - The board meets at least twice a year at the call of the CFPB director.

The details: - The Consumer Advisory Board was created under Section 1014(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. - The board advises the CFPB on consumer financial products and services. - The board also identifies and assesses the impact on consumers of new, emerging and changing products, practices and technologies. - Under Section 1014(b), at least six board members are appointed on a rotating basis through recommendations from regional Federal Reserve Bank presidents. - Candidates submit a suitability questionnaire, cover letter and resume. - The CFPB may also request an interview, financial holdings information, professional affiliations and a background check. - The CFPB director makes the final appointment after reviewing board membership balance. - Huber’s CFPB biography is available on the bureau’s website.

Between the lines: - Huber’s background centers on digital advertising, where she says she saw how quickly bad actors could exploit gaps in online marketplaces. - IntegriShield says its platform is built to detect deceptive advertising, online scams and fraudulent websites before they reach consumers. - The company says it has resolved tens of thousands of violations, including deceptive claims, impostor sites and fraudulent offers. - Huber said the board’s job is to spot how new products and practices are landing on consumers, and said she will bring evidence from her work online to the table. - Huber said technology gave deception greater reach and speed, and that consumers cannot outrun it on their own. - Huber also said the goal is not to slow innovation, but to make sure someone is consistently watching what consumers are actually being shown. - Huber serves on the board of Responsible Enterprises Against Consumer Harassment, the LeadGen Committee of the Online Lenders Alliance, the Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council monitor role at BBB National Program and the advisory board of LinkUnite. - Huber serves on the Consumer Advisory Board in her individual capacity and does not represent IntegriShield, REACH or any other organization in that role. - Board service is advisory only, with no formal decision-making role at the bureau and no access to confidential supervisory information. - Selection to the board does not mean the CFPB endorses Huber’s organization, products or services.

What's next: - Huber will participate in the advisory board’s next meetings over her two-year term. - The CFPB will continue using the board to gather regional and consumer-market perspective on emerging financial products and technologies. - Huber’s official bureau biography remains available online for public review.

The bottom line: - The appointment gives the CFPB a new adviser with hands-on experience tracking online fraud, deceptive marketing and consumer harm in digital markets. - For Huber, the role formalizes a decade-plus focus on spotting abuse before it reaches consumers.