Consumer lending

There are a lot of worrisome things going on out there, but the credit markets overall appear to be okay. For now. And that, really, is all that matters.

The 90-day-plus delinquency rate on student loans hit 10.3% in the first quarter, and New York Fed researchers warn that a second wave of defaults could be coming. Evidence is mixed regarding the likely impact on other consumer-lending segments.

Private credit in 2026 may be like subprime mortgages in 2008, but for banks, at least, the reality may be different this time around.

The Chicago-based fintech, which offers high-cost loans, has agreed to acquire the parent company of BNC National Bank. The deal would grant OppFi a national bank charter, which offers a way around state interest rate caps.

In evaluating Enova's proposed acquisition of Grasshopper Bancorp, regulators must decide whether to allow lending products with annual percentage rates of nearly 100% into the national banking system.

Portable mortgages are an interesting idea in theory, and might work well, if underwritten properly. But making existing mortgages portable on a retroactive basis would be both unworkable and unfair.

Nationwide, Americans are falling behind on their car loans. But among Ally Financial's customers, delinquencies fell during the first quarter.

Banks are currently underwriting mortgages based on one-year property insurance contracts. The Federal Housing Finance Authority should use its influence to build longer-term climate risk assessments into loans.

Jay Plum, head of consumer lending at Fifth Third Bank, says artificial intelligence is fundamentally shifting relationships between banks and their third-party software vendors, allowing banks to do things on their own that they would previously rely on vendors to do for them, like identify risky loans and prepare for exams.

A federal appeals court has agreed to rehear a challenge to a Colorado law intended to combat "rent-a-bank," arrangements that would impose Colorado's interest rate caps on certain out-of-state banks.

EWA programs benefit workers across the country, making it more likely that they will be able to avoid high-cost credit products like payday loans. Efforts to restrict them will harm consumers.

The Minneapolis-based regional bank is extending home-improvement loan durations by as much as two years in a bid to continue capitalizing on a long-running remodeling boom.

The online lender, known for being an AI pioneer, says it wants a national bank license simply for efficiency's sake.

The New York City-based lender, whose roots lie in taxi lending, believes an expanded home-improvement loan operation will generate mid-teen loan growth this year.

Data breach extortion group ShinyHunters used social engineering to steal customer names, addresses and phone numbers from the blockchain lender.

A White House Council of Economic Advisers report published Tuesday found that the CFPB cost consumers between $237 and $369 billion since its creation, an analysis that consumer advocates and some financial academics say is flawed.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's complaint portal has been flooded in recent years, but corporate debt collectors, industry attorneys and consumer advocates question whether the bureau's efforts to reduce the volume will help consumers as much as it helps the firms they're complaining about.

The lender beat fourth-quarter earnings estimates but warned that a strategic shift toward auto and home equity loans will compress near-term profits.

Bowing to industry pressure, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is warning consumers with notices on its complaint portal not to file disputes about inaccurate information on credit reports, among other changes.

A one-time accounting change will boost the bank's ability to spend on marketing. Traders flinched at the change; analysts called it a buying opportunity.