Small-dollar lending

Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration sent letters Wednesday to 20 nonbank lenders that charge triple-digit annual percentage rates to try to determine if their use of online referrals is steering borrowers into larger loans than they want or need.

A new, 10-part podcast series examining housing blight; JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon baits President Trump; U.S. Bank returns to small-dollar lending; and more from this week’s most-read stories.

U.S. Bank’s announcement that it will begin offering small installment loans could open the door for other financial institutions to offer them as an alternative to pricey payday loans.

The nation's fifth-largest bank on Monday rolled out a three-month consumer loan that is far less expensive than the typical payday loan. The move comes as regulators are encouraging banks to reach out to the subprime market, which they largely abandoned.

PNC's Todd Barnhart, incoming Consumer Bankers Association chair, says the group is concentrating on the impending process of modernizing the Community Reinvestment Act among other issues that do not require action on Capitol Hill.

The service can be useful for customers short on cash, but financial institutions need to clarify overdraft rules and develop alternative forms of credit.

The service can be useful for customers short on cash, but financial institutions need to clarify overdraft rules and develop alternative forms of credit.

Forty credit unions participated in the study, which led to nearly $85 million in loans over the course of 18 months.

The state follows Colorado’s lead in adopting reforms pushed by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

The creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was widely expected to centralize regulation of payday and other high-cost loans in Washington. It hasn’t worked out that way.