Payday lending

The agency's "no-action" letter is intended to provide more regulatory certainty for the bank after it announced a short-term credit product available to checking account customers next year.

Referendums that legalized marijuana and sports wagering in several states could incentivize banks to do business with companies in these sectors. Payday loan and privacy measures that passed Tuesday also have implications for the industry.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders says the rule was based on “an invented evidentiary standard,” and failed to consider consumer protections mandated by Dodd-Frank.

Bank of America plans to offer some of its customers access to short-term loans, the latest blow to the payday lending industry.

The California plan to create a new, tougher state regulatory agency is at the finish line after lawmakers agreed to key exemptions for banks while maintaining strong enforcement measures for payday lenders and other firms.

Regulators are urging banks to offer small-dollar loans again and lifting existing restrictions on nonbank lenders. But the real challenge is making those loans favorable to consumers without losing money.

Members of the Senate Banking Committee took the agency’s leader to task for eliminating underwriting requirements for small-dollar lenders, which lawmakers said has left consumers more vulnerable during the pandemic.

Trump-appointed regulators gave the industry the green light to offer installment loans during the pandemic. But with concerns that the light could turn red in 2021, bankers remain extra cautious.

Consumers now have more control over their own financial decisions and loan options.

Consumers now have more control over their own financial decisions and loan options.