Small-dollar lending

The consumer bureau says the online lender improperly extracted millions from over 5,000 accounts without getting authorization.

When a Columbia University professor surveyed 1,000 payday loan customers, little did he know that the resulting research report would become a lightning rod in the drafting of rules for small-dollar lenders.

The consent order against California Check Cashing Stores is part of a broader crackdown by the Department of Business Oversight on small-dollar lenders trying to skirt interest rate limits.

Some in the industry worry the Fed may balk at allowing OCC charter recipients into the payments system, but Otting downplayed those concerns.

The agency is expected soon to propose a revamp of the 2017 regulation that would eliminate the ability-to-repay provisions, which small-dollar lenders saw as a direct threat to their business.

A credit-builder loan at Virginia-based The Partnership Federal Credit Union wasn't meeting the needs of as many members as it could. Here's how the CU fixed that problem.

The FDIC is seeking comment on how to encourage small-dollar lending at banks, signaling a course change from guidance it issued five years ago restricting such loans.

Reversing a previous order, the Texas judge granted part of the bureau's request to stay the effective date and allow time for the agency to work on changes to the rule.

The agency wants to change underwriting requirements in the regulation that lenders say will put them out of business, and give companies a break on the compliance deadline.

The program will focus on increasing lending to small and medium enterprises in Guatemala, Burkina Faso and Kenya.

Banks are being encouraged to offer smaller loans as an alternative to payday products, but their high interest rates can still put consumers in debt.

Among the three measures is a requirement for boards of publicly traded firms to include more women.

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.