Consumer lending

President Biden said he’s considering a plan to relieve student debt in the coming weeks, but that it would fall short of the sweeping forgiveness sought by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and progressive Democrats.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director told Congress he will revise some rules as the bureau looks to address late fees.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will conduct supervisory exams of nonbank fintech companies that pose risks to consumers as Director Rohit Chopra seeks to level the regulatory playing field with supervised banks.

To appeal to a younger audience, credit unions are teaming up with third parties that can help them offer Bitcoin accounts, real-time payments and other cutting-edge services.

The U.S. moratorium on student-loan payments is slated to be lifted at the end of August, but more than half of borrowers said in a survey that they wouldn’t be able to make a single monthly payment today if they had to.

The Dallas bank reported an increase in energy loans for the first time in nearly three years, but executives don’t expect fossil-fuel lending to rebound to its previous highs.

Bank of America expects 3% GDP growth this year and a 2% improvement next year, even in the face of rising rates. Consumers’ continued willingness to spend and borrow, which was evident in the bank’s first-quarter results, is a key reason for that outlook.

The Detroit company’s first-quarter results were highlighted by a 14% increase in car-loan originations. While executives expect credit quality to start normalizing, they also say that demand for vehicles will remain robust, with an estimated 4 million-5 million consumers still waiting on the sidelines.

The loss was driven by “funding spread widening as well as credit-valuation adjustments relating to both increases in commodities exposures and markdowns of derivatives receivables from Russia-associated counterparties,” the company said. 

Vice President Kamala Harris will announce new steps designed to reduce the cost of federal home loans for Americans saddled with medical debt and make it easier for veterans to have loans forgiven, as part of a White House push to help the millions facing unpaid health care bills.