The nation's payday lenders, seeking to establish greater respectability, are setting up their own alternative credit bureau that will allow consumers with non-existent credit scores the chance to create credit histories based on payment records for commonly recurring bills, such as rent, private mortgages, utilities, telephone, cable TV, child care and payday advances. Because such payments are not generally tracked by the three major credit bureaus, as many as 50 million consumers without established credit histories are often precluded from obtaining affordable home loans, auto loans and insurance. This condition also makes obtaining jobs, utility hook-ups and telephone service costly and difficult. The new system is being piloted by the Community Financial Services Association of America, a trade group representing 164 payday lenders, and PRBC, an alternative credit bureau supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation.
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As AI and digital assets become mainstream, banks are spotting new opportunities to integrate payments with other activities.
July 4 -
House Republicans overcame internal divisions to narrowly pass President Trump's tax and spending package Thursday afternoon. The measure would cut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding level, among other provisions.
July 3 -
A new partnership with Google Cloud will let the Spanish bank offer Gemini to all staff after a successful ChatGPT deployment.
July 3 -
Atlanta-based CoastalSouth's initial public offering prices at $21.50 a share; Valley National Bancorp announces Lyndsey Sloan will succeed Gary Michael as general counsel; Webster Financial Corporation taps a new chief risk officer and appoints a new board member; and more in this week's banking news roundup.
July 3 -
Capital One closed the deal to buy the credit card provider in May and as part of the review process, decided to exit its home equity lending business.
July 3 -
In a rare move for a credit union, the Seattle institution has snapped up the 13-member team that created EarnUp's AI Advisor product.
July 3