Consumer lending

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.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in a report that by driving customers to roll over their loans repeatedly, rather than availing themselves of a cheaper option, the payday industry may be deceiving borrowers.

The Biden administration once again extended the pause on student loan payments enacted to help borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic, this time through the end of August.

Two years since the coronavirus began its spread, members are still hoarding savings and are hesitant to borrow due to the economic uncertainty. This has led to the industry's lowest-ever yield-on-assets ratio — a key metric for measuring financial health.

Questionnaires sent to banks in recent months seek information about loans to same-sex couples, women on maternity leave and people with limited English proficiency. Industry executives and attorneys say the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may be offering hints about specific types of fair-lending cases it could pursue.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it expects credit card companies to increase fees — often around $30 — charged when customer miss a payment. The higher prices are allowed under rules that authorize inflation adjustments.

ChargeAfter doesn't offer installment loans. Instead, it's tapping into the BNPL craze by bringing together the banks and merchants that are active in the market.

Federal student loan borrowers are likely to experience a notable increase in delinquencies once forbearance concludes in May, a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found.

In an update to an exam manual, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says racial or other bias associated with a wide range of financial products — not just credit — is illegal and subject to CFPB enforcement actions.

Nearly a quarter of respondents in a recent Credit Karma survey said that their total debt increased after using “buy now, pay later” services, which allow users to pay off purchases in installments over a few weeks.

BNPL providers earn most of their money from their merchant partnerships, not late fees, as their critics claim.

The company has filed a lawsuit against the banking commissioner for threatening to end its partnership with a bank that enables consumer loans to exceed the state’s 36% interest rate cap. OppFi’s argument: Its bank partner is the true lender.

The data from these transactions could help millions of borrowers with thin or nonexistent credit files. But how the credit reporting industry collects and treats the data may matter more than the data itself.

Numerous unaccredited and loosely regulated schools are offering buy now/pay later products as a payment option for students, according to the Student Borrower Protection Center. Its report, which called out PayPal, Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay, comes as the CFPB is considering how to regulate the sector.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, which earlier this week announced a $13.4 billion acquisition to expand in the U.S., got a lift from loan growth at home.

Lawmakers in New Mexico recently approved a stringent rate limit, and similar efforts are underway in Rhode Island and Michigan. The state-level actions are among the "numerous headwinds" facing high-cost lenders, one analyst said.

Americans with student loans are about to get a stark wake-up call on their borrowings as government relief programs phase out, according to a blog post by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said the bureau is concerned that the spike in car prices, due partly to the global chip shortage, could create incentives for servicers to illegally seize vehicles for their resale value.

Paywallet CEO DK Sharma has raised about $14 million for a system that facilitates loans of up to $10,000, with installments coming out of borrowers' pay. It's meant to be an alternative to payday lenders.

Klarna Bank is adding the option for customers to pay immediately at checkout in nine new markets while expanding its rewards program, as it targets becoming a one-stop lender for consumers.