BankThink Fed should open the payments system to fintechs

The Federal Reserve operates a financial infrastructure that allows banks to efficiently transfer money, facilitating secure consumer payments and helping to maintain a stable American financial system. An increasingly important group of next-generation, nonbank fintech firms such as PayPal or Amazon (and, importantly, whatever new firms rise to challenge them), could benefit from accessing the same cost-effective system as their more traditional competitors. More important, American consumers stand to benefit.

AG Tong, Banking Commissioner Perez Caution Federal Workers to Beware of Predatory Online Payday Lenders during Ongoing Federal Shutdown

While many Connecticut financial institutions are stepping up to the plate to provide no-interest, low-interest loans and other financial assistance to furloughed federal workers during the ongoing government shutdown, Attorney General William Tong and Department of Banking Commissioner Jorge Perez today cautioned workers to avoid predatory online payday lenders who may seek to exploit struggling workers with unaffordable and potentially illegal payday loans or disguise themselves as participants in Governor Lamont’s zero-percent public-private loan program passed by the legislature yesterday. 

CFPB Associate Director Chris D’Angelo Reported to be Joining New York Attorney General

According to an American Banker report, Chris D’Angelo, the CFPB’s Associate Director of Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending, has announced that he is leaving the Bureau to serve in the Office of the New York Attorney General as Chief Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice.   The current New York Attorney General is Letitia James, who was elected in November 2018.  Ms. James is expected to continue the aggressive pro-consumer approach of former NY AG Eric Schneiderman.

NAFCU elevates CU issues at CFPB roundtable with Kraninger

NAFCU on Thursday elevated several credit union issues – including payday alternative loans, data collection related to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and small business lending, and remittances – to Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Director Kathy Kraninger during a financial services industry roundtable. NAFCU has shared credit unions' concerns and priorities with Kraninger since she was confirmed as director in December.

North Carolina Reintroduces Strict Data Breach Notification Law

January 22, 2019 - North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein and Rep. Jason Saine reintroduced data privacy legislation that would give organizations just 30 days to report a breach. For healthcare providers in the state, the law would effectively cut in half the notification time outlined in HIPAA, which mandates breach notifications occur within 60 days of discovery. According to the proposal, the tighter notification will “allow people to freeze their credit across all major credit reporting agencies and take other measures to prevent identity theft before it occurs.” Further, the bill would redefine a breach to include ransomware attacks, where the personal information is accessed and potentially not acquired. This is also particularly notable for healthcare organizations, as hackers continue to target the sector with ransomware attacks.

Synchrony and Sam’s Club Extend Strategic Partnership

January 23, 2019 - STAMFORD, Conn. -- Synchrony (NYSE: SYF) today announced an extension of its strategic partnership with Sam’s Club, a segment of Walmart, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), to continue offering Club members enhanced financing options through the Sam’s Club-branded credit cards. As part of the extension, Synchrony will continue to manage and service the credit card programs for Sam’s Club members across the retailer’s nearly 600 clubs.

Here’s How to Find Out if Your Email Was One of the 773 Million Exposed in Massive Data Breach

It may be time to change your passwords again. Security experts have discovered what very well could be one of the largest data breach of all time, a collection of 772,904,991 unique emails and 21,222,975 unique passwords. Called “Collection #1,” the breach was initially reported by Troy Hunt and seemingly comes from many different sources, not a single corporate entity. And it’s an especially dangerous one as he says it creates 1.16 billion “unique combinations of email addresses and passwords”. People can check to see if their accounts and passwords were compromised at Hunt’s “Have I Been pwned?” Website.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Settles with Broker of High-interest Credit Offers

Washington, D.C. — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) today announced a settlement with Mark Corbett, a broker of contracts offering high-interest credit to veterans.   As described in the consent order, the Bureau found that Corbett violated the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 by misrepresenting to consumers that the contracts he facilitates are valid and enforceable when, in fact, the contracts are void because veterans’ pension payments are unassignable under federal law; misrepresenting to consumers that the offered product is a purchase of payments and not a high-interest credit offer; misrepresenting to consumers when they will receive their funds; and failing to disclose to consumers the applicable interest rate on the credit offer. 

WebRecon Stats for Dec 2018: 2018 Ends With A Whimper

Quick analysis: Well, 2018 ended pretty much along the trajectory it spent much of the year on. FDCPA and TCPA complaints dropped (-7.8% and -13.2% respectively), and FCRA, BBB and CFPB complaints all increased (+4.3%, +11.5% and +5.9% respectively)

Lending Express Surpasses $100M in loans matched

 Lending Express, a technology company dedicated to creating a better world if funding for SMBs, today announced they’ve surpassed $100 million in financing facilitated between small and medium business owners and online lenders. The announcement comes as Lending Express obtains state permission to open for business in California. The news is indicative of the company’s impressive growth and expansion in response to strong and consistently increasing demand.

Changes On Deck For The CFPB’s Payday Lending Rule

Could it be that the CFPB, under new Executive Director Kathy Kraninger, will be moving directly to eliminate the more controversial provisions of its payday lending rule? According to sources cited by American Banker, the CFPB will remove the controversial underwriting rules that would have forced lenders to establish a borrower’s ability to repay before offering them a small-dollar, short-term lending product.

DBO Continues Crackdown on Interest Rate Cap Avoidance Entering Consent Order with California Check Cashing Stores

SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) today finalized a $900,000 settlement with California Check Cashing Stores, LLC (CCCS), that continues a broader DBO crackdown on lender avoidance of interest rate limits on small-dollar consumer loans.   “Steering consumers into higher-cost loans to circumvent statutory interest rate caps is abusive,” said DBO Commissioner Jan Lynn Owen. “Consumers deserve protection and access to lending markets that are fair, transparent and comply with the law.”

Request for Information on Small-Dollar Lending

We, the undersigned attorneys general, submit this comment in response to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (“FDIC”) request for information on small-dollar lending.   We welcome the FDIC’s interest in encouraging FDIC-supervised financial institutions such as state-chartered banks to offer prudently structured and responsibly underwritten small-dollar credit  products to consumers. As the FDIC’s recent data shows, approximately 8.4 million U.S. households were “unbanked” and approximately 24.2 million U.S. households were underbanked in 2017.

Judge orders net neutrality lawsuit to go ahead despite shutdown

This week the possibility emerged that the ongoing government shutdown could delay net neutrality’s day in court — but the court was not sympathetic to the FCC’s request that the lawsuit be put off. Oral arguments for this major challenge to the agency’s rollback of 2015’s internet regulations will go ahead as planned on February 1.  During a shutdown, federal employees — including government lawyers — must have specific authorization to continue working, since it’s illegal for them to do so without pay. In this case a judge on the case must effectively make that authorization.

Optimism Declining Among Chief Execs at Community Banks and Credit Unions, New Study Finds

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Chief executive officers at mid-size banks and credit unions are decreasingly optimistic about the year ahead, according to What's Going On In Banking 2019: Is The Party Over?, a new report from Cornerstone Advisors.   Cornerstone Advisors surveyed 305 senior executives from community-based banks and credit unions to learn their priorities, fintech plans and state of future-readiness for the year ahead. A number of key study findings left experts at Cornerstone wondering: Is the party over?

Wyoming Bill Would Clear the Way for Crypto Custody at Banks

Wyoming may soon become the first state in the U.S. to provide clear banking permissions for cryptocurrencies and digital assets.   A bipartisan group of state legislators introduced SF0125 to the government on Friday, which, if passed, would classify digital assets as property within existing laws. It would also establish “an opt-in framework for banks to provide custodial services for digital asset property as directed custodians,” determine standards for such services, clarify how Wyoming courts might classify digital assets and more.

Thune, Markey Reintroduce Bill to Crack Down on Illegal Robocall Scams

Washington — 

U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet, and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), also a member of the Commerce Committee and author of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, this week reintroduced the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act (S. 151). Amidst ever-increasing numbers of robocall scams, the TRACED Act gives regulators more time to find scammers, increases civil forfeiture penalties for those who are caught, promotes call authentication and blocking adoption, and brings relevant federal agencies and state attorneys general together to address impediments to criminal prosecution of robocallers who intentionally flout laws.

Fintech Companies Link Up to Fight Fraud — Using Blockchain

Compared with robbing a bank, getting a loan is relatively easy. Robbing banks is dangerous and you’re very likely to get caught. Whereas getting a loan involves paperwork, and if you have the right financial profile, you are likely to get approved. Lenders like to lend, sometimes so much that they will effectively put themselves out of business doing it. There’s a middle ground where lending and stealing meet, which can involve things like banks cooking up phony documentation or people pretending to be someone else, getting a loan and, as soon as the cash arrives, no longer being the person who owes the money.

AG Josh Shapiro’s legal fight vs Navient, for-profit colleges heats up in Pa. | Debt Valley

Navient seeks partial dismissal of lawsuit over loan forbearance practices

Wilmington-based student loan servicing firm Navient is seeking a partial summary judgment in a case involving its practices with borrowers struggling to make payments..  Gaining the judgment would dismiss some but not all charges in an upcoming case with the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau.

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Receivables Management Association 22nd Annual Conference

FTC Hearing on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century – February 2019

Federal Trade Commission

ACA International Spring Forum & Expo 2019

ACA International

LendIt Fintech USA 2019

LendIt Fintech

NCUCA – National Credit Union Collection Alliance

NCUCA - National Credit Union Collection Alliance

Collection & Recovery Solutions 2019

Resource Management Services, Inc.

National Creditors Bar Association 2019 Spring Conference

National Creditors Bar Association

PrivacyCon 2019

Federal Trade Commission

ACA International 2019 Annual Convention & Expo

ACA International

Debt Connection Symposium & Expo 2019

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National Creditors Bar Association 2019 Fall Conference

National Creditors Bar Association