Payday lending

Readers react to states investigating payroll advance companies and the GOP's weak response to cannabis banking, heed a warning that nonbanks are prepared for CECL and more.

Four advocacy groups questioned why the consumer bureau did not ask a judge to lift a stay of the rule's payment provisions.

New data from the state shows that payday loans fell to a 12-year low in 2018. But the trend does not necessarily mean that consumers are paying less to borrow.

New York and 10 other states are looking into whether companies in the fast-growing sector are violating payday lending laws.

The legislation, which passed a key test in the state Senate on Wednesday, is the product of a compromise between consumer advocates and some lenders.

Companies that offer early access to earned wages want a regulatory framework for their fast-growing industry. But the bill under consideration in Sacramento is exposing big divisions in the sector.

Readers respond to BB&T-SunTrust's rebranding, consider the future of home equity loans, debate the number of credit unions buying up community banks and more.

The CFPB issued a final rule late Thursday to delay the compliance date for mandatory underwriting provisions of the 2017 payday lending rule.

Critics have knocked the product, which provides workers access to their wages before payday, as another form of predatory lending. But California has a new bill that would create a legal framework for this short-term lending alternative, and policymakers elsewhere should follow the state's lead.

Banks and credit unions “push back” against an FCC proposal to limit calls; Miami gets the next assistant the bank says is not intended to replace humans.

Currently, the maximum a federal credit union can charge on most loans is 18%. But a proposal from Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to lower that to 15% on consumer credit could reduce access, experts said.

Kathy Kraninger, the bureau's director, is in a standoff with Democrats about her claim that the agency cannot supervise institutions under the Military Lending Act.

As part of the deal, the agency summarized its policy on account terminations and issued a letter acknowledging that some employees “acted in a manner inconsistent with FDIC policies with respect to payday lenders.”

A year after trying to save faltering payday lender Wonga, Balderton Capital is investing in the other side of the model by leading a $19 million Series A funding round in Wagestream, a U.K. startup that provides flexible payroll technology to avoid payday loans.

The AGs say the agency's plan to rescind ability-to-repay requirements for payday loans would undermine states' ability to enforce their own laws.

The official told lawmakers Thursday that the research underlying the bureau's 2017 payday rule proposal did not support strict underwriting requirements of small-dollar loans.

Recent letters from NAFCU and CUNA called on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to provide a carve out in its payday lending rule for loans made by credit unions.

A bill that would have capped payday loan rates at 36% failed to get through committee, but credit unions have pledged to continue to fight for the legislation.

The bank plans rollout of a global cash management business; the lead Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee “not optimistic” about privatization.

Readers respond to JPMorgan's Twitter gaffe, weigh the role banks should play on issues like climate change, consider the impact of artificial intelligence on fair lending and more.