Follow these steps to find your credit agreement to determine whether it has an arbitration clause.
- Go to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's database of credit card agreements here: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/credit-cards/agreements/.
- Under "Show agreements by card issuer" type in your card issuer. This is the same as the original creditor. It could be something like "Synchrony Bank."
- Select your issuer from the drop down menu.
If you can't find the card issuer, consider these points. The drop-down list only contains credit card issuers that have submitted credit card agreements as required under Section 204 of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (the CARD Act). So, if you can't find your card issue, it may because the issuer has not yet submitted its agreements to the Federal Reserve Board, the issuer has fewer than 10,000 accounts and does not have to submit its agreements, or the name that you are looking for is not the actual issuer's name (for example, "ABC Card" is issued by XYZ Bank). Look on the back of the credit card or on your latest monthly statement to find the name of the issuer. The bank, retailer, or other entity whose name appears on the front of the card may not be the actual issuer of the card. You can also check the issuer's website; typically, the bank name is listed at the bottom of the issuer's homepage. If none of these reasons apply and you still cannot find an agreement, call them to request a copy of your agreement. Under federal law, your credit card issuer is required to provide a copy of your agreement upon request. - Under the "agreements by ... " section, find your agreement. You can try hitting cmd+F or ctrl+F and typing in the name of your agreement.
- Download the agreement.
- Hit cmd+F or ctrl+F and type in "arbitration."
- If the word "arbitration" shows up, your agreement most likely has an arbitration agreement.