Consumer lending

Ally Financial, one of the nation's largest automobile lenders, saw profits fall during the third quarter as more motorists fell behind on their car payments.

The online lender is entering the car-loan market at a time when some banks are scaling back and regulators are sounding the alarm about deteriorating underwriting standards.

The piling on at Wells Fargo has reached an unprecedented level, even for a bank. Fifteen investigations are underway into Wells' phony account openings. Experts are quantifying the damage to Wells' reputation and what the bank can do going forward to repair it.

Amid shrinking yields, rising delinquencies and repeated warnings from regulators about frothy market conditions, several banks said on earnings calls that they plan to scale back or hold the line on indirect auto lending.

TCF Financial in Wayzata, Minn., on Friday reported higher profits, mostly from gains on the sale of auto loans.

Two San Francisco supervisors on Tuesday introduced a resolution that would "end all business with Wells Fargo," in response to the fake account scandal and other practices that have harmed consumers.

In states with strict rules on small-dollar loans, lenders could see an opening in the language of the CFPB rule to actually hike rates, observers say.

Subprime borrowers are falling behind on their car loan payments at the highest rate in more than six years, and some bonds backed by these loans are vulnerable to getting downgraded, according to S&P Global Ratings.

WASHINGTON — Eighteen Republican State Attorneys Generals sent a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week pushing back against the agency's proposal to rein in high-cost small-dollar loans.

The 1.35% delinquency rate was the lowest since at least 2001, and it marked nearly four years of delinquencies below the 15-year average of 2.21%.

The agency said Wednesday it has received more than 500,000 comments on the proposal — and many more may be filed in the coming days.

A new app aims to modernize the automobile financing process by allowing car shoppers to get credit approval on their phones.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final rule on prepaid cards will improve fraud protection and provide greater transparency of costs for such products, but is already drawing fire from both consumer advocates and bankers over how it treats overdraft fees.

The Federal Trade Commission took a victory lap Tuesday in its fight with race car driver Scott Tucker and his payday lending operation.

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers sent a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday expressing concern about the agency's proposal to rein in payday lending and other short-term credit, warning it could hamper credit availability.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposal not only requires lenders to determine a borrower's ability to repay, but also forces creditors to follow the bureau's approach to making that determination.

WASHINGTON — More than one hundred House Democrats sent a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray on Wednesday calling for the agency to strengthen its proposal to rein in payday lending.

JPMorgan Chase's Thasunda Duckett has been named chief executive officer of consumer banking as part of one of the bank's periodic management reshufflings.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday fined a large auto title lender $9 million for failing to disclose the terms and costs of its title loans in three states, and for illegally exposing consumers' information to their employers.

The subprime auto lender continues to struggle to get its arms around accounting issues that date to 2013.