"Payday Lending Isn't a Lifeline. It's a Noose": Comments of the Week
April 11, 2014 7:00 AM
American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. As excerpted from the Comments sections of AmericanBanker.com articles.
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On an FDIC studys conclusion that fears of consolidation among community banks are overstated:
"Fifteen new charters in five years but we [regulators] really want small banks...hum..."
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On an FDIC study's conclusion that fears of consolidation among community banks are overstated:
"The durability of the community banks is heartening and noteworthy but that provides no basis to conclude that regulatory burdens have not impacted the banks. The study actually shows that the burdens have been lethal to the smallest banks but have not yet killed the next group of banks."
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On a call for Community Reinvestment Act reform:
"Real reform would include treating 'community' banks like credit unions with regard to CRA. A credit union is exempt from CRA requirements because their CHARTER outlines their required commitment to the community they serve. I contend the same is true for small community banks that are single or multiple locations within the same MSA."
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On a Twitter conversation about banks' struggles to innovate:
"Just an observation on obstacles and innovation: These conversations took place on Twitter, an innovation for connecting and communicating
Opportunities for innovation are everywhere we just have to be looking for them. Innovation stops when we focus on obstacles instead of opportunities."
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On the federal government's payday loan crackdown:
"People without access to traditional 'bank credit' need a place to get short-term loans. Don't let those 'annualized' interest rates fool you."
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On the federal government's payday loan crackdown:
"The Obama administration is clearly on the take by the banking industry. Not one person is in jail from the 10 trillion in losses from 2008, yet they are picking on the payday loan industry threatening the bank's overdraft fee revenue."
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On the view that the Justice Department is correct in carrying out its "Operation Choke Point" crackdown on payday lending:
"I've never met a financially literate person who would describe payday lending as a lifeline. More like a noose."
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On the assertion that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has used extraordinary measures to shape its public persona:
"What a shame to finally have a federal agency solely focused on protecting consumers from the widespread 'tricks & traps' of financial services providers, only to see it jeopardize its future by acting more like a social activist than a financial regulator."
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On the assertion that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has used extraordinary measures to shape its public persona:
"The best thing that could happen is for this unnecessary agency to implode. It only costs a lot of taxpayer money for absolutely nothing worthwhile."
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On the CFPB partnering with libraries to promote financial literacy:
"LOL
we are on Comedy Central right?"
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On the contention that big banks shaped the Federal Reserve to suit their own interests:
"This is a very entertaining story. It just leaves out an important fact: the banking industry opposed the creation of the Federal Reserve."
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On the contention that big banks shaped the Federal Reserve to suit their own interests:
"The bankers formed a new political bargain that they thought they could control. 100 years later the health insurers did the same. When will they learn?"
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On a report that Congressional Democrats encouraged regulators to issue a charter to now-troubled CertusBank:
"Certus is the inevitable postmortem to blaming the sub-prime lending debacle and financial crisis of 2008 on Wall Street 'one percenters.'"
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