MetaBank Freed from Consent Order Tied to Payday Product

Regulators have released MetaBank in Storm Lake, Iowa,  from a consent order tied to a payday-like loan program it once offered.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency lifted the order on Thursday, according to a news release that same day from the bank's parent company, the $1.8 billion-asset Meta Financial Group.

The order, imposed in 2011 by the now-defunct Office of Thrift Supervision, said that MetaBank engaged in "unfair or deceptive lending practices" in its iAdvance line of credit program. The bank had to pay $4.8 million in reimbursements to  certain iAdvance customers.

The bank also agreed to stop offering iAdvance and improve its internal controls, management information systems, internal audit reviews of its third-party sponsorship arrangements and technology policies and procedures.

Over the last few years the bank has raised significant new capital, increased earnings and made "significant investments in compliance-related infrastructure," Meta Financial Chairman and Chief Executive J. Tyler Haahr said in the news release.

"We are excited about the opportunities to more easily add new strategic partnerships," Haahr said.

MetaBank runs 13 branches in South Dakota and Iowa. Its parent company, Meta Financial, is based in Sioux Falls, S.D.