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The FDIC tries to take itself off the front lines of the battle over Operation Choke Point by formally withdrawing a list of high-risk merchants.
July 28 -
Bankers have complained that the federal government's crackdown on their relationships with payday lenders and other merchants has gone too far, but Justice officials said in a blog post that banks that abet fraudsters' use of the payment system should be punished.
May 8 -
The FDIC, OCC and Fed all maintain that it's up to banks, not their regulators, to make decisions about whether to do business with payday lenders.
August 19
The Electronic Payments Association has stepped up scrutiny of its automated clearing house network in an attempt to weed out fraudulent charges.
The industry group, also known as Nacha,
The group also agreed to impose penalties on banks involved in originating the bad charges. The penalty, known as an "unauthorized entry fee," is designed as an incentive for financial institutions to more closely monitor third-party payment networks.
"These rules show that financial institutions can come together through private-sector rulemaking to address practices that may result in harm to consumers," said Janet O. Estep, the trade group's president and chief executive, in a press release Tuesday.
Nacha proposed the rules changes
Adoption of the new industry rules comes as banks face pressure from regulators to scrutinize transactions involving payday lenders and other online merchants.
