THESE ARE THE FINTECH TRENDS TO WATCH, ACCORDING TO 13 EXPERTS

From cryptocurrency to AI technology, it’s an exciting time to be in the fintech space. Like last night’s football game, the latest fintech trends not only make good water cooler chatter, but they also dictate how companies across dozens of industries do business. Not to mention, they could change how consumers like you and me do everything from manage our paycheck to pay back student loans.

Student Loan System Presents Repayment Challenges

As of March 2019, 43 million Americans held student loans provided through federal government programs, the largest segment of the education loan market. But this system is under pressure as more borrowers struggle to repay, a problem compounded by the complexity of the repayment process. The U.S. Department of Education reports that about 20 percent of borrowers are in default—typically defined as having gone at least 270 days without a payment—millions more are behind on their payments, and more than a million loans go into default each year.¹

Veterans: Make cybersecurity your business

As Veterans Day reminds us, no one knows better than members of the military why it’s critical to maintain a vigilant defense. The more than 2.5 million veterans who own small businesses can apply that principle at their companies, too. Hackers are looking to exploit weaknesses in data perimeters, and business owners can’t afford to lose time, money, and customer goodwill to a compromised network. Knowing some cybersecurity basics and putting them in practice will help you protect sensitive employee and consumer information and reduce the risk of a cyber attack. That’s why the FTC developed resources – with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Small Business Administration, and the Department of Homeland Security – to help your business stay secure online.

CFPB’s Kraninger Catching Flak – and Hitting Her Targets

An anonymous World War II bomber pilot may be the source of the saying, “If you’re not catching flak, you’re not hitting your target.” But today, the saying often means if a person in a high-profile job is not attracting criticism, that person is not making much of a difference.   If there’s one government official this saying applies to in a positive way, it is Kathy Kraninger. Appointed by President Trump and confirmed last December as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Kraninger has caught much flak from statist progressives as she has hit her targets by rolling back excessive regulation.

CECL Has Been Delayed for Most Lenders

EXCERPT: The CECL standard has now been delayed for all but SEC reporting banks according to a new FASB vote, which will have a major impact on mid-sized and large banks but will be delayed until 2023 for others.

A Ban On High-Cost Loans May Be Coming

A few years ago, money was very tight for Chasity Wohlford. The Houston resident, who was working a low-wage job, needed to fly to Colorado for a family emergency. She says a friend told her, "Oh, just go to this payday lender. It's super easy." But Wohlford ended up over her head in debt after taking out that loan. The U.S. military realized some years ago that a lot of service members were getting into serious trouble with payday and other loans with annual interest rates of 300% or higher. In 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law a measure that caps interest rates to protect active duty troops. Now, some members of Congress want to expand those safeguards to cover all Americans.

Equifax Enters Into Credit Bureau-Exclusive Relationship With Envestnet⼁Yodlee To Further Extend Alternative Data Leadership

ATLANTA and REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) and Envestnet | Yodlee (NYSE: ENV) today announced a credit bureau-exclusive partnership that enables individuals to share real-time bank account information like balances, deposits and withdrawals to create a more robust personal financial picture. This relationship is an extension of Equifax leadership in alternative data, building on core data assets, recent acquisitions and the utility data partnership announced with Urjanet in September. Access to consumer-permissioned banking information from Envestnet | Yodlee further expands Equifax alternative data assets and empowers people to enhance their credit data as they establish themselves as strong candidates for loans and other services.

CFPB Financial Well-being Research Conference November 13, 2019

Join us on this one-day conference that will bring together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to discuss the latest research on financial well-being using the Bureau’s Financial Well-being Scale.  

FTC Charges Nevada Company with Falsely Claiming Participation in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield

The Federal Trade Commission sued a Nevada data storage services company over allegations that it misled consumers about its participation in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework and failed to adhere to the program’s requirements before allowing its certification to lapse.   The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework establishes a process to allow companies to transfer consumer data from European Union countries to the United States in compliance with EU law. The Department of Commerce administers the framework, while the FTC enforces the promises companies make when joining the program.

Kraninger Signals Caution on Controversial Small Business Lending Policy

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger has signaled a cautious approach in her plan to implement a controversial piece of Dodd-Frank, which requires the agency to collect data on minority- and women-owned small business lending. The CFPB has, so far, delayed Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, frustrating consumer advocates who say the data is critical to studying unequal access to funds. A symposium on the topic hosted by the CFPB on Wednesday is a sign that the bureau intends to move forward on the issue. 

SEQUIUM ASSET SOLUTIONS APPOINTS MANNY PLASENCIA AS VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS

November 6th, 2019, Marietta, GA- Manny Plasencia has joined Sequium Asset Solutions, LLC as the Vice President of Operations for the Financial Services vertical.  Manny has more than 20 years of industry experience in operations and a proven track record of superior metric-driven performance in various Financial Services, Customer Experience and BPO verticals.  He is an expert in building advanced strategies, and an outstanding team leader who excels in Collections, Customer Service/Engagement, and providing an excellent consumer experience.

Research Reveals $4.9 Billion Total Annual U.S. Economic Impact and 28,000 American Jobs from Debt Settlement Industry – With Potential for an Additional $1.4 Billion Economic Impact and $422 Million in Consumer Savings

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The American Fair Credit Council (AFCC), the national trade association representing the debt settlement industry, today released the findings from a first-of-its-kind analysis describing the industry’s national economic impact. The study, conducted by John Dunham & Associates, found that debt settlement services contributed a total economic impact of $4.9 billion to the U.S. economy in 2018.

Google’s Newest Ad Policy Restricts Debt Services Ads & Bans Credit Repair Ads

Advertising for financial services is tough. The industry has some of the most expensive keywords on Google Ads (hitting nearly $50 per click). Even more, it has higher CPCs and CPAs than almost any other industry on Google. Even beyond these costs, financers are becoming increasingly familiar with new regulations and policies in their industry from all sides—and Google is no stranger to this, either. Last week, Google announced an update to these restrictions. Starting in November, that it will no longer serve ads for credit repair services. At the same time, advertisers who wish to serve ads for debt settlement or debt management services will need to be certified by Google, as well as the governing bodies of where they look to serve ads.

CFPB symposium addresses small biz lending concerns

Concerns about regulatory burdens added to both small businesses and the financial institutions that lend to them were discussed Wednesday at the CFPB symposium focused on Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires the bureau to collect data related to small business lending. Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger acknowledged these concerns while emphasizing the need to better understand small business lending.

Director Kraninger’s Speech at CFPB Symposium on Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act

Good morning. I am excited to welcome everyone to today’s symposium on Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act. I would like to thank all of our panelists for participating today and our moderators, Grady and Elena. Through our symposia series we have convened experts in a variety of different fields to tackle legal and policy issues facing the Bureau.   Today, we are focused on Section 1071, which requires financial institutions to collect, report, and make public certain information concerning credit applications made by women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses. 

Third-Party Debt Collections Industry at a Crossroads as Slow Technology Advancements Impede Industry

The collections industry is at a crossroads. Collections balances in the U.S. continued to grow in the last decade, yet at the same time, the number of third-party collections companies declined dramatically. A new TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) and Aite Group report, The State of Third-Party Collections 2019, found that contraction in the industry is largely due to strong consumer credit performance combined with a regulatory environment that has slowed modernization efforts.

$11 trillion U.S. mortgage market has a shadowy new player

Financial regulators led by the Treasury's Steven Mnuchin and the Federal Reserve's Jerome Powell have been put on notice about the risk of an economically damaging cash crunch in the $11 trillion home mortgage market. Behind the concern aired recently at the Financial Stability Oversight Council headed by Secretary Mnuchin: the rapid growth of so-called shadow banks in the origination and servicing of home loans, especially riskier ones.

4 Out of 5 People Who Use Digital Banks Would Switch to Amazon

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. consumers are thinking about opening a new savings account, and about half of them (47%) say they would be comfortable with an online-only provider like Ally, Discover or Synchrony, according to a survey conducted by the Consumer Bankers Association and Novantas.

Fed survey reveals strong loan demand

The Federal Reserve Monday released its third-quarter senior loan officer opinion survey (SLOOS), which revealed "stronger loan demand, but tighter underwriting standards, particularly for subprime applicants," said NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long.

California DMV data breach left drivers’ Social Security numbers exposed: report

Thousands of California drivers had their Social Security numbers exposed in a data breach that gave federal agencies unauthorized access, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced Tuesday, according to a report.   The breach also showed which drivers don’t have Social Security numbers, making it especially concerning for illegal immigrants who were issued driver’s licenses by the state, The Los Angeles Times reported. The state had promised the drivers that immigration agencies would not gain access to their information.

AT&T to Pay $60 Million to Resolve FTC Allegations It Misled Consumers with ‘Unlimited Data’ Promises

AT&T Mobility, LLC, will pay $60 million to settle litigation with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations that the wireless provider misled millions of its smartphone customers by charging them for “unlimited” data plans while reducing their data speeds.   In a complaint filed in 2014, the FTC alleged that AT&T failed to adequately disclose to its unlimited data plan customers that, if they reach a certain amount of data use in a given billing cycle, AT&T would reduce—or “throttle”—their data speeds to the point that many common mobile phone applications, such as web browsing and video streaming, became difficult or nearly impossible to use.

Deep Dive: How Demand For Instant Payments Is Affecting Lending

Drafting, applying and being approved for loans can be complicated and drawn out processes for consumers and business owners alike. Borrowers must often complete hefty amounts of paperwork before they are approved, and payments disbursed via paper checks can add delays. Lenders are under more pressure to meet expectations and compete as the demand for instant payouts grow, but delivering faster or instant loan disbursements is easier said than done. Lenders must balance delivering the speed consumers demand while offering stringent authentication measures.

CFPB Performs Well on FISMA Audit

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) performed well on its fiscal year 2019 FISMA audit, reaching a Level 4 and meeting the threshold for effectiveness, according to a report released October 31 by CFPB’s inspector general. The audit found that while most of the agency’s results matched its FY18 audit, CFPB improved its capabilities in the Identify domain, pushing the maturity level up to Level 4. The improvements came in CFPB’s risk management program, where the bureau developed a plan for insider threat, used automation to track the life cycle of hardware, and conducted an agency-wide risk assessment.

AOL Has Highest Email Breach Rate, Gmail The Lowest: Study

There is nowhere to hide when it comes to data breaches. A new study by Who is Hosting This found that most common email addresses are vulnerable — and so are their providers. For instance, 99.83% of emails with AOL.com have been breached, the company says. Next are MSN (95.12%), Hotmail (87.15%), Yahoo (86.64%) and Gmail (74.09%).

Jobs: Companies struggle to find skilled cybersecurity workers as attacks intensify

WASHINGTON — As internet crimes and abuse stalk the globe, cybersecurity firms are having trouble attracting and keeping skilled workers to help protect networks. Today some 2.8 million professionals work in cybersecurity around the globe, but an additional 4 million trained workers would be needed to close the skills gap and properly defend organizations, according to the 2019 ISC2 Cyber Security Workforce Study. The global nonprofit is the largest association of certified cybersecurity professionals. The data reveals that in the U.S. alone, nearly a half million workers would be needed to fill the shortage.

BankThink CFPB can do better by fintechs than a ‘policy tool’

The CFPB recently finalized three policy tools meant to promote financial innovation by offering some regulatory certainty. But the agency may need to go further to convince fintechs such tools are safe and beneficial. Two of those tools — the no-action letter and the compliance assistance sandbox — equip the CFPB with broad authorities to address various regulatory questions, including fair-lending risk associated with the use of machine learning and alternative data in credit underwriting.

Bank failure in New Jersey is nation’s third in a week

Regulators have now closed three banks in the span of a week with the failure late Friday of City National Bank of New Jersey in Newark. City National Bank of New Jersey was shuttered by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as receiver. City National’s operations were sold to Industrial Bank in Washington, D.C. Industrial is a unit of IBW Financial

Erasing student debt would be a small stimulus but would create a ‘moral hazard,’ Moody’s says

Forgiving student loan debt would provide a modest bump to the economy but could risk “moral hazard” and eventually make the problem worse, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Some Democratic presidential candidates, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have proposed wiping out a debt load that has exploded from $363 billion in 2005 to nearly $1.5 trillion now.

District Court approves $12.5 million settlement in TCPA class action

On October 28, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted final approval of a $12.5 million TCPA class action settlement between a group of consumers and three cruise lines and their marketing group (collectively, “defendants”). According to the opinion, a consumer filed the action against the defendants alleging they violated the TCPA’s prohibition of the use of an autodialer without prior consent. While the motion for class certification was pending, the parties reached an agreement-in-principle for a class-wide settlement.

Nebraska payday lending ballot campaign gets $485,000 boost

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - A ballot campaign seeking to tighten the cap on how much interest payday lenders can charge in Nebraska has gotten a major boost from a national donor, increasing the odds that it will succeed in placing the issue on the 2020 ballot.

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FTC and CFPB to Host December Workshop on Accuracy in Consumer Reporting

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2019 CFPB Research Conference

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RMAi Annual Conference

AFCC Spring Conference – 2020

Collection and Recovery Solutions 2020

Collection & Recovery Solutions - produced by Resource Management Services, Inc.

Debt Connection Symposium & Expo 2020

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