Senate Panel Grills Banks On Credit Card Practices
WASHINGTON-Credit card banks came under fire in a hearing before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, where the chairman, Sen. Carl Levin, said attempts by the credit card industry to institute reforms haven't gone far enough.
"The relatively new reforms that you folks have made when the spotlight is on you...we can't have hearings here every day," Sen. Levin said.
"So you have to have some regulation, and you have to have legislation, and that's the line we have to figure out where we stop, where to cross." At issue are a variety of billing practices Levin said he believes are designed to confuse consumers.
Although Levin is pushing for a bill, such legislation typically would come out of the Senate Banking Committee, led by Sen. Christopher Dodd, who has indicated he wants to give the industry a chance to reform itself before writing any laws or regulation.
PSCU-FS Merges With Digital Dialogue, LLC
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.-PSCU Financial Services, the nation's largest CUSO, has combined business operations with Digital Dialogue, LLC, of Auburn Hills, Mich.
The two organizations said they are joining forces to deliver the benefits of their technology, knowledge and experience to the credit union industry.
Digital Dialogue is a 24-hour call center specializing in member services, new member acquisition, cross-selling and automated lending solutions for credit unions and will continue its operations in Michigan. PSCU Financial Services will expand its portfolio to include Digital Dialogue's automated lending solutions, and Digital Dialogue will benefit from the extensive resources and 30 years of industry experience offered by PSCU Financial Services.
"When two well-respected service providers join forces, it strengthens the credit union industry. We believe this collaboration will deliver better service and new solutions to credit unions," said David J. Serlo, President of PSCU Financial Services.
NAFCU Offers Credit Predictions
ARLINGTON, Va.-NAFCU is predicting consumer installment credit to grow by 4% this year despite seeing a general slowdown in credit card expansion after the holiday shopping season brought 2006 to a close. In its recent "Flash Report" NAFCU said total consumer installment credit increased at an annual rate of 3.2% to $2.4 trillion in January, while non-revolving credit increased by 4.4% to $1.5 trillion and revolving credit increased to $879.4 billion from $878.6 billion in the previous month.
Other factors cited by NAFCU: Total CU consumer lending rose to $236.1 billion from $236.3 billion in December on a non-seasonally adjusted basis; nonrevolving credit union consumer lending expanded by $200 million to $207.6 billion and revolving credit contracted from $28.9 billion in December to $28.5 billion in January. Credit unions' share of total consumer installment credit increased 2 basis points to 9.71% from the December figure and is higher than the average percentage share for 2006 of 9.69%.
"NAFCU expects loan demand to decline from 7.9% in 2006 to 6% in 2007 due to a slowdown in the economy, particularly in light vehicle lending," the trade group said, adding, "Despite the slowdown in 2006 in total consumer installment lending, credit unions still managed to outpace finance companies, the Federal Government and Sallie Mae, savings institutions, and non-financial businesses."
Congress Tackles Katrina Housing
ARLINGTON, Va.-A variety of financial services-related topics came to the fore in hearings this week, according to NAFCU. The House Financial Services Committee marked up a bill on housing needs resulting from Hurricane Katrina. Another panel explored remittances to Central and South America, and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank has called a hearing executive compensation issues. NAFCU's Brad Thaler noted that with the Katrina-related bill expected to be a long mark-up, the planned hearing on subprime mortgages was postponed.
Smart Move: Educating Teachers
HOUSTON-Smart Financial CU is urging other CUs to join it in a program that seeks to help teachers who come to the U.S. from abroad and are in need of financial aid. Several representatives of Smart Financial's business development team have just returned from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico to offer financial assistance to Mexican citizens hoping to become bilingual teachers in the U.S. Smart Financial's International Teacher Program helps educators from Mexico and Spain get settled in the United States by offering up to $3,000 in signature and/or credit line loans.
