California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation

California plans to hire a PR firm to handle a $750K communications campaign to educate the public about the Dept. of Financial Protection and Innovation’s new consumer protection and industry regulation authority.

The California Consumer Financial Protection Law, which went into effect Jan. 1, increases DFPI’s capacity to respond to financial fraud, scams, discrimination and a range of deceptive practices.

DFPI also has assumed authority over previously unregulated segments such as debt collectors, credit reporting and debt relief agencies.

It wants a firm to bolster public awareness of the department, inform the public about its expanded oversight and educate Californians about their rights and how to file complaints and report problems.

DFPI is especially interested in outreach to “vulnerable populations,” which are defined as students, immigrants, military personnel and senior citizens.

It may require messaging in Russian, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Spanish and Hmong.

The PR campaign will begin June 25 and run through June 24, 2022. DFPI has funding of $250K with the balance of $500K dependent on funding in the FY 2021-2022 budget.

Proposals are due April 22. Send the original, four hard copies and an electronic file on a USB memory stick to:

RFP 20-SA032
Business Operation Office
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation
2101 Arena Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95834.

Download RFP (PDF).