Small-dollar lending

Many of its borrowers have struggled to make payments since the pandemic struck, so it is helping them by suspending debt collections and capping rates on new loans at 36%.

Trump-appointed regulators gave the industry the green light to offer installment loans during the pandemic. But with concerns that the light could turn red in 2021, bankers remain extra cautious.

Consumers now have more control over their own financial decisions and loan options.

Consumers now have more control over their own financial decisions and loan options.

An interagency notice meant to encourage lenders to offer small consumer loans also provides federal agencies too much say on what constitutes “reasonable” pricing.

The templates are meant to make it easier to obtain agency approval for small-dollar loan products and to accommodate mortgage servicers that want to provide online loss mitigation options.

The comptroller of the currency, who is stepping down after two and a half years on the job, ruffled feathers and won some fans in pushing through CRA reform, cutting costs and trying to reshape the agency’s examiner culture.

Four federal agencies offered guidance Wednesday on how to offer products that compete against payday loans without incurring Washington's wrath. The announcement could spark the rebirth of deposit advances, which were regulated out of existence during the Obama administration.

Some bankers, economists, policy experts and even Mark Cuban say that creative uses of overdraft programs could be lifelines for consumers and businesses whose finances have been upended by the coronavirus crisis.

Banks, which previously shunned unsecured small-dollar lending, are now embracing the product because of the outbreak. It's just a matter of whether the shift is permanent.

The $5.9 billion-asset Liberty Bank in Middletown had set aside $5 million to make small-dollar loans to customers affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Regulators point to traditional financial institutions as well-positioned to meet short-term credit needs during the coronavirus pandemic, but there are still a host of questions about whether the industry should try to compete with high-cost lenders.

Citigroup CEO says it’s a “fine line” between supporting customers and burdening them with debt; Goldman gives away 600,000 N95 masks it had from prior scares.

The joint statement said examiners will not impede banks and credit unions’ responsible efforts to offer open lines of credit, closed-installment loans or other products to borrowers dealing with fallout from the pandemic.

The joint statement said examiners will not impede banks’ responsible efforts to offer open lines of credit, closed-installment loans or other products to borrowers dealing with fallout from the pandemic.

Banks typically don't offer loans to cash-strapped consumers, and are poorly positioned to start doing so on an emergency basis — unless the government steps in to help.

Maybe Congress shouldn’t be so quick to change laws without real-world input.

Payday lenders have long used bank partnerships and similar means to circumvent state interest rate caps. Lawmakers should stop such practices now.

Community development financial institutions could stand to gain from efforts to modernize the Community Reinvestment Act, but they fear the proposal offered by regulators may end up draining their capital.

In a letter to the agency's inspector general, the 15 lawmakers pointed to specific cases where they said the bureau departed from legal standards in deciding not to require restitution.