Stop abbreviating 2020. Police say it leaves you open to fraud and could cost you big

The new year is giving scammers an easy way to forge documents, but you can protect yourself with an easy New Year's resolution: Stop abbreviating the year.   Why? This year's abbreviation is easily changeable and could be used against you. The concern is that scammers could easily manipulate a document dated "1/1/20" into "1/1/2000" or even "1/1/2021."

Seriously, Can Fintechs Really Beat Banks In 2020?

On day one of this new decade, here are a few Points on fintech startups maturing into banks, and banks mastering fintech. Who will consumers and investors bet on? The first fintech cycle that began 10+ years ago will officially mature in 2020. There were two original crops of fintech startups: lenders and investment/wealth managers (aka robo-advisors). Let’s see how the fintech pioneers have evolved, and how the banks could win in the end.

CIT buys Mutual of Omaha Bank for $1 billion

CIT Bank N.A., the banking subsidiary of CIT Group, announced Thursday that it acquired Mutual of Omaha Bank, the banking arm of insurance giant Mutual of Omaha, for $1 billion.

Cuomo signs bill to protect NY call center jobs

A bill that aims to protect call center jobs in New York has been signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.   The legislation, which takes effect June 30, will require the state Department of Labor to maintain a list of call centers that move from New York to another country. The list will be available on the department’s website and will feature the names of companies that moved a call center to another country or cut employment by at least 30%. 

Bipartisan robocall law signed by Trump authorizes FCC to target scammers

President Trump signed a bipartisan law Monday night that allows the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to target robocall scammers." data-reactid="16" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: #26282a; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">President Trump signed a bipartisan law Monday night that allows the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to target robocall scammers. Scammers made nearly 54 billion robocalls in 2019 -- a 13 percent increase since 2018 when 47.8 billion robocalls were made, and a 77 percent increase since 2017 when 30.5 billion robocalls were made, according to robocall-blocking software YouMail's robocall index. These calls trick people into participating in health care scams, student loan scams, business scams and more, YouMail found.

Fed Minutes in Focus for Clues on Repo Plans, Rate-Hold Resolve

(Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve may drop a hint on plans for the repo market in minutes of its December meeting, plus what it would take to shift the view among officials that interest rates are on hold all year. The closely scrutinized description of the Dec. 10-11 gathering will be released at 2 p.m. in Washington on Friday. Thirteen of 17 officials forecast rates would be unchanged through the 2020 U.S. presidential election year, according to updated economic projections issued at the time, with four penciling in a quarter-point increase. No one forecasts a rate cut through the end of 2022.

FTC Issues Biennial Report to Congress on the National Do Not Call Registry

The Federal Trade Commission has issued its biennial report to Congress focusing on the use of the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry by both consumers and businesses and other organizations over the past two years.   This year’s report includes: 1) a summary of current Registry operations; 2) a summary of the impact on the Registry of new telecommunication technologies; and 3) a discussion of the impact of the established business relationship exception in the Commission’s enforcement efforts.

The Fed seems to have halted a potential crisis in the overnight lending market — for now

The Federal Reserve is closing out 2019 seemingly in control, at least for the moment, of a problem that only a few months ago threatened to spiral into a crisis. Issues in the overnight lending market, where banks go to fund their operations, caused short-term borrowing rates to spike briefly in mid-September. More importantly, they raised concerns over whether the Fed’s attempts to stage manage its escape from the extraordinary measures it took during and after the financial crisis were running awry.

Small Business Guide to Alternative Lending

Every business needs funding. While you might have initially financed your business with your own money or loans from family and friends, there comes a time when institutional capital is necessary for sustained growth. Many small business owners rely on bank loans or loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

Fintech pros think the trend of rebundling financial services will continue in 2020

We saw the rebundling of financial services come under the spotlight throughout 2019, and we'll likely continue to see this trend next year. "With lower barriers on the infrastructure side for fintechs, it's becoming easier to launch other features that aren't core to a company's mandate," Jillian Williams, investment principal at VC and advisory firm Anthemis, replied to Business Insider Intelligence's recent survey about fintech predictions for 2020.

2020 Cybersecurity Trends to Watch

CFPB Happenings: Workshop, TRID Guidance, Constitutionality Briefs

To close out a busier-than-expected 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) held a workshop in conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); published additional guidance under the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) Rule; issued an annual report on TILA, EFTA and CARD Act issues; and celebrated the one-year anniversary of Director Kathy Kraninger, who teased a new policy that would reward companies with the early termination of consent orders.

The Decade of Debt: big deals, bigger risk

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Whatever nickname ultimately gets attached to the now-ending Twenty-tens, on Wall Street and across Corporate America it arguably should be tagged as the “Decade of Debt.” With interest rates locked in at rock-bottom levels courtesy of the Federal Reserve’s easy-money policy after the financial crisis, companies found it cheaper than ever to tap the corporate bond market to load up on cash.

Student debt increased by 107% this decade, Federal Reserve data shows

As 2019 comes to a close, for many doing a review of their finances, the decade will likely be defined by student debt. Today, some 44 million Americans collectively hold nearly $1.6 trillion in student debt. Given that there are approximately 242 million Americans over the age of 18, that means that roughly 18% of American adults are paying off student loans.

Why student loan debt is ballooning for those 50 and up

Retirement should be filled with plenty of carefree days, peppered with a few bucket-list-worthy adventures. Headaches, such as student loans, ideally should be long gone.   But increasingly, some retirees are wondering how they're going to pay the utilities or the rent in retirement, thanks to monthly student loan bills that add up to hundreds of dollars a month.   Ever since the Great Recession ended, student loan debt has been building among older consumers across the country, including metro Detroit.

For-profit Bay State College to pay $1.1 million to hundreds of former students

BOSTON —

Hundreds of former students of Bay State College will receive portions of $1.1 million as the for-profit school pays to resolve allegations that it violated state regulations.   Attorney General Maura Healey announced the settlement Friday in a statement that alleges the school failed to provide students with required disclosures, used illegal telemarketing practices and supplied inaccurate job placement figures for some programs.

CCPA: Everything you need to know about California’s new privacy law

The most sweeping data-privacy law in the country kicks in Jan. 1. The CCPA, short for the California Consumer Privacy Act, gives residents of the Golden State the right to learn what data companies collect about them. It also lets Californians ask companies to delete their data and not to sell it.

Court Rules in Favor of FTC in Case Against Mortgage Relief Scammers

The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada has ruled in favor of the Federal Trade Commission in a case against the operators of a scheme that deceived financially distressed homeowners by falsely promising to make their mortgages more affordable.  The defendants also charged consumers illegal advance fees and unlawfully told consumers not to pay their mortgages to or communicate with their lenders.

2019 reputation rankings: The biggest movers

The banking industry has some work to do to improve its reputation. After years of steadily climbing, banks’ reputation scores, as tracked by American Banker and the Reputation Institute, slipped for the second consecutive year in 2019, both with customers and noncustomers. Worse, of the 16 industries the Reputation Institute tracks, only one — telecommunications — currently has a worse reputation than banks.

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