Consumer lending

There are far more payday lending stores than McDonald's restaurants in almost every state in the nation. But unlike McDonald's burgers, payday lending is rarely affordable and generally not digestible.

Attempts by online lenders to debit payments from consumers' checking accounts add a steep, hidden cost to online payday loans, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report released Wednesday.

To tackle alternatives to payday lending, regulators and the industry should consider these three ideas for pilot programs instead of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau trying to fix what it cannot.

A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau study found that borrowers pay steep bank penalty fees and may have their checking accounts closed when they take out online payday loans.

Ally Financial has blasted a proxy advisory firm for its recommendation that shareholders vote against the re-election of four of the Detroit company's directors.

Regions Financial has made clear that it wants to ramp up in consumer and small-business lending, and a big part of its strategy is teaming up with alternative lenders.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected an attempt by Allstate Insurance Co. to stop a Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action.

Consumer credit default rates remained relatively flat in March despite a jump in bank card default rates, according to the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices.

A purported nonprofit that allegedly benefitted from a massive landline phone bill cramming operation has agreed to turn over most of its assets in order to settle Federal Trade Commission charges.

A Meridian, Miss.-based collection agency told the Lauderdale County (Miss.) Board of Supervisors last week that they have the expertise to collect $7.2 million in unpaid fines and fees owed to the county since 1984.

A Las Vegas-based collection agency has filed more than a thousand medical debt collection lawsuits against St. Louis area residents since the end of 2014.

Senior members of the Obama Administration posted a blog advocating "a moral case" for putting an end to payday lending abuses, citing support from a variety of religious leaders.

Senior members of the Obama administration posted a blog under the headline: "A Moral Case for Putting a Stop to Payday Lending Abuses." White House officials are citing support from a diverse array of religious leaders for ending the cycle of debt caused by taking out multiple payday loans.

The Better Business Bureau serving the western part of Florida has issued an alert about a fraudulent debt collection operation using the name ACS Inc.

Foreclosures filings fell in the first quarter to the lowest level in more than nine years and foreclosure activity dropped below pre-recession levels in more than one-third of major metropolitan areas.

B of A is normally thought of as a U.S. economic bellwether, but it has substantial operations overseas, and its international performance last quarter provided a painful reminder of that fact.

An Arkansas woman is alleging in a lawsuit that debt buyer PRA Group froze her bank account to try to collect $43,200 in interest on a $6,000 judgment that was less than two months old.

DBA International has elected Todd Lansky as president of the association's board of directors. He replaces Patricia Baxter, who has been a board member since 2013 before resigning this week.

Young college graduates, including those who are still paying off student loans, are more likely to buy a home than their peers who did not go to college, according to a report from Navient and Ipsos.

Rather than rush its proposal to regulate short-term lenders, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should carefully weigh the consequences of potentially driving lenders out of the market.