Small-dollar lending

Despite recent encouragement from the OCC, banks still struggle to make a profit on short-term loans.

Just two months ago, Comptroller Joseph Otting seemed to signal that the OCC might be open to letting national banks rent their charters to payday lenders. Now he is clarifying that it won’t happen.

An OCC initiative to get more banks to make short-term loans that rival those of payday lenders isn't enough of an enticement.

While industry officials welcomed a bulletin from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency encouraging banks to develop alternatives to payday loans, they are making no commitments to offer such products.

The agency's bulletin opens the door to banks' making more short-term loans to borrowers with lower credit scores — with few parameters beyond "sound underwriting."

Regulators should revise existing rules to encourage banks to offer short-term loans to customers who run into financial emergencies.

The heads of Mastercard and Santander outlined the concrete steps their firms are taking to bring unbanked consumers into the financial system.

The congressional resolution to overturn the payday regulation comes as acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney has already said the agency will reconsider the rule internally.

The new law, which is modeled on a similar effort in the United Kingdom, aims to lure financial firms to the desert. It has drawn support from business organizations but opposition from consumer groups — a dynamic that is likely to be replayed in other states.

Just as promised, Republican lawmakers went to work Wednesday considering regulatory reform ideas that would go further than the Senate's tweaks of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The legislation, signed Monday by Gov. Rick Scott, authorizes 60- to 90-day loans of up to $1,000. It makes Florida the first state to pass a law designed to blunt the impact of the CFPB’s payday lending rule.

The agency's decision to lift a 2002 consent order against Ace Cash Express could lead to a revival of partnerships between national banks and payday lenders.

Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting said reform of Community Reinvestment Act regulations is a "key element" of how regulators aim to recalibrate rules a decade after the financial crisis.

The war of words between acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Mick Mulvaney and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the agency's architect, is escalating.

The Pew Charitable Trusts has released a set of 10 standards for banks and credit unions that want to to offer small loans to subprime customers. Among its ideas: keep monthly payments at or below 5% of the borrower’s paycheck and make loans available quickly through digital channels.

The Pew Charitable Trusts has released a set of 10 standards for banks and credit unions that want to offer small loans to subprime customers. Among its ideas: keep monthly payments at or below 5% of the borrower’s paycheck and make loans available quickly through digital channels.

Delaying the rule's effective date or refocusing it on disclosure requirements are among the options for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's acting director to ease its impact on the industry.

Top Democrats in the House and Senate sent a letter to Mick Mulvaney on Wednesday questioning his decision to delay the implementation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s payday loan rule.

Mick Mulvaney and Richard Cordray set themselves apart from the run-of-the-mill Beltway bashing of late when their war of words over the CFPB went positively bookish.

The CDFI formerly known as Progreso Financiero targets consumers with little or no credit history.