Demographics

Several large banks have already embraced standards released Tuesday by a consumer advocacy group laying out how institutions can offer safe, entry-level financial services.

New York’s attorney general called on more than 90 banks including units of Toronto-Dominion Bank and HSBC Holdings to revamp customer screening procedures to give poor people better access to financial services.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray issued a public rebuke of RushCard on Friday, warning that it must rapidly fix technical glitches that have left customers locked out of their accounts.

Regulatory action is needed to weed out patently unfair fee structures, but as an industry we should and can do better on our own.

Springleaf's proposed acquisition of Citi's OneMain Holdings is being delayed by the Justice Department, which appears focused on preserving competition at the local level — even as a raft of new subprime installment lenders are popping up on the Web.

The bureau's proposed standards would drive lenders out of short-term, small-dollar lending, just as the OCC's 2013 rules did. This time, however, there will be few, if any, regulated institutions left to fill the void.

Westamerica Bancorp. will close its branch in Upper Lake, Calif., after a failed effort to find another financial institution to take over the branch.

Borrowers are faced with two terrible choices: take out another exploitative loan because of the shortfall created by the first, or face a range of catastrophic consequences associated with defaulting.

Avant, an online lending platform that focuses on borrowers with marred credit, announced an agreement Wednesday to raise $325 million in equity financing from blue-chip investors.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including how postal banking could help low-income people in the U.S. and the continuing debate over interchange fees.