Credit

The CFPB issued an interim final rule on Wednesday requiring that credit reporting agencies keep initial fraud alerts in a consumer’s file for at least a year.

Delinquencies have held steady for a year, and observers are optimistic about upcoming third-quarter data. But the long-term question is whether solid underwriting can overcome higher vehicle prices and consumer debt burdens.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Elijah Cummings have called for an update on probes into the credit reporting giant a year after its massive data breach came to light.

After news of the breach, congressional hearings for the company’s ex-CEO and other blowback were accompanied by legislative calls to action. But a year later, have policymakers done anything?

Legislation allowing regular bill payments to count toward credit history would solve more problems than some critics fear it would create.

The financial technology services company leverages credit data.

Mark D’Arcy was in charge of regulatory reviews and annual stress tests; many see 10-plus point gains following removal of non-loan collections reports.

The number of consumers being pursued by debt-collection agencies fell dramatically in the past year, but it's as much technicality as achievement, and bankers need to keep that in mind when reviewing the credit scores of millions of Americans.

Good credit analysts are in short supply, says David Nicholson, a senior VP of commercial lending at a community bank. But fair warning for job seekers: Only dogged questioners who can think critically need apply, because vetting business borrowers is as much art as science.

The onset of artificial intelligence and machine learning could serve as the safety net some companies need, providing a different and more thorough twist on traditional underwriting and credit checks.

CommuterClub provides loans so consumers can purchase annual season passes online, instead of monthly or weekly passes and spread the cost over monthly installments.

Allowing alternative data such as rent and utility payments has bipartisan support, but some say it could create more problems than it solves.

The Stamford, Conn., issuer of store credit cards has two potential options after the retail giant chose to partner with Capital One. But the decision over which path to take is out of its hands.

The Oklahoma bank’s net charge-offs were its second-highest in the last five quarters, but the company said it was confident in its credit quality outlook and growth prospects from a pending acquisition.

As the company boosts originations to subprime and other borrowers, it remains to be seen if the improvements in asset quality will continue. A similar question mark is hanging over many consumer lenders these days.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is suspending its ongoing review of new credit scoring models and will instead move forward with creating a regulatory framework for providers of alternative credit scores to apply and be evaluated for use by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Credit card and auto loans grew again in the second quarter at the McLean, Va., company, and the net charge-off rates of both business lines fell, too.

Repayments on acquired residential mortgage loans were the main reason, but other bottom-line boosters more than made up for that, the Buffalo, N.Y., bank said in reporting second-quarter results.

The Mississippi company said it has recorded most of the expected charge-offs tied to the last severe decline in oil prices.

Declines in corporate banking and energy loans were part of the reason loan growth was light, but the Dallas bank reported strong earnings thanks heavily to fatter margins.