Payday lending

Traditional installment lenders are fixtures in their communities and verify borrowers' ability to repay, which cannot be said of payday lenders.

Springleaf's proposed acquisition of Citi's OneMain Holdings is being delayed by the Justice Department, which appears focused on preserving competition at the local level — even as a raft of new subprime installment lenders are popping up on the Web.

Traditional banks avoid the short-term-credit market because its customers demand a level of customer service that is inconsistent with current models of retail banking, the head of a payday lending group writes.

Cash America International, a payday lender in Fort Worth, Texas, has named Brent Stuart chief executive.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including banks' subpar shareholder value and how big-data advocates can better communicate with critics who worry about the technology's potential discriminatory effects.

Small installment loans with monthly payments limited to 5% of a borrower's income offer a way for banks to serve low-income customers' credit needs while turning a profit.

In a rapidly growing market outside the purview of the Truth in Lending Act or state usury caps, online lenders' rates and fees can be next to impossible to compare.

The new regulations are meant to close loopholes in an interest rate cap that applies to active-duty soldiers and sailors. But financial institutions won at least one important concession.

The Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility said it found no support for allegations that federal lawyers wrongly pursued legal online payday lenders and forced banks to cut ties with legitimate businesses.

The Republican presidential contender is reviewing legislation opposed by banks that would allow payday loan stores to expand into a variety of new products and services.

The former operators of an online payday lending scheme in the Kansas City area will be banned from the consumer finance business under a proposed settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

JPMorgan Chase will overhaul customer screening procedures to let more low-income consumers open checking and savings accounts under an agreement announced Tuesday with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

The case against Adrian Rubin offers a tour through lenders' efforts, dating back to the late 1990s, to avoid state-by-state interest-rate caps.

A GOP-led measure would have forced the Defense Department to do more study before finalizing regulations on high-cost loans to service members. It was quashed when five Republicans voted with Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee.

Financial industry groups are supporting the effort to stop the Pentagon from issuing new regulations on high-cost lending this year, while congressional Democrats and consumer groups are decrying it.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the owner of several tax-preparation outlets that allegedly steered low-income clients into expensive loans against their anticipated refunds.

The CFPB's proposed reforms for payday and other high-cost loans are both welcome and long overdue. But there are two ways the agency can further improve future requirements.

President Obama lauded the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Thursday for cracking down on high interest rate, short-term loans while defending the agency against attempts to defang it.

Under tough questioning on Capitol Hill, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Martin Gruenberg said the agency accepts blame for fallout over its "high risk" businesses list as an internal FDIC watchdog is still investigating.

Four Oaks Bank in North Carolina has named Warren "Rocky" Herring its chief credit officer. Herring had held the same job at Premier Commercial Bank in Greensboro, N.C., before NewBridge Bancorp bought it last month.