Consumer lending

Acima offers lease-to-own plans on consumer items, but the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and New York officials are calling those plans credit. The battles, playing out in separate courts, could trigger more expansive protections for customers.

The consumer lender has signed a nonbinding letter of intent to sell its credit card portfolio, which will simplify its business to personal loans and automated savings.

Shawn Stone, the new CEO, has more than 25 years of experience in online loan origination, loan servicing operations, credit and capital markets.

The same creativity and flexibility that community development financial institutions bring to business lending ought to be applied to financing affordable housing.

The Bank of Japan's interest rate hike and plan for quantitative tightening have international markets scrambling to adjust to a new reality in which carry trade credit is tighter and a U.S. downturn is somewhat more likely.

The proposed settlement would resolve allegations that USAA violated laws protecting those in the military from excessive interest rates. The bank said it "strongly disagrees" with the allegations.

When the superregional bank sold its insurance business for $10.1 billion, it laid out three ways to use the proceeds: buybacks, a balance sheet repositioning and loan growth. The latter plan is so far proving to be elusive.

Bank OZK is the latest commercial real estate-heavy bank to announce plans to diversify its business. CEO George Gleason emphasized that he's confident in the bank's loan portfolio, but said he thinks misperceptions are dragging down the stock price.

Indirect auto loan originations at the Ohio-based bank rose by 31% from the first quarter. Huntington sees the business as an opportunity at a time when numerous other banks have been pulling back.

The $22 billion-dollar earned wage access industry is vigorously opposing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's plan to classify paycheck advances as consumer loans requiring disclosures of fees and costs, and says it will fight the rule in court.

The credit card company sold its student loan business, which long drew the ire of regulators. It also set aside substantial funds to cover looming regulatory penalties.

Payroll advances would be considered consumer loans under an interpretive rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that would require disclosures of annual percentage rates and fees under the Truth in Lending Act.

The Detroit-based auto lender has been dealing with an imbalance in deposit costs and loan yield since rates rapidly rose. Now, the bank's fixed-rate loans from before are maturing.

The credit card company is seeing fewer customers fall behind on their payments. But with lower-income consumers still being pinched by inflation, Synchrony isn't loosening its lending standards.

A federal appeals court ruled that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits not just outright discrimination but also the discouragement of prospective applicants for credit.

The Cincinnati bank has agreed to pay a total of $20 million to settle a lawsuit by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over fake bank accounts and to resolve separate violations involving force-placed auto insurance.

A law that took effect this week allows Florida consumers to ask state regulators to investigate why a financial institution canceled an account or rejected a loan application. The law, which applies to federally chartered banks, could lead to a legal battle over the limits of state powers.

This year Texas banks dominated American Banker's annual list of the top-performing larger community banks. See which institution came in at No. 1 for this asset class.

A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction sought by industry groups that sued to block a Colorado law. The law, which would cap interest rates on consumer loans, targets partnerships between fintechs and out-of-state banks.

Financial services professionals should be in the business of normalizing discussions about personal finance. The result will be a more financially literate population, and that's good for everyone.