At a glanceWednesday, February 19, 2020

Collection Industry News At A Glance - February 19, 2020
Wednesday February 19, 2020
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LendingClub buys Radius Bank for $185 million in first fintech takeover of a regulated US bank

LendingClub, a fintech company that pioneered personal loans made online, is buying a U.S. bank to give it access to a stable and cheaper source of funding, CNBC has learned.   LendingClub is paying $185 million in cash and stock for Radius Bancorp, according to documents viewed by CNBC. Radius, a Boston-based online bank with about $1.4 billion in assets, is among a cohort of small lenders that have partnered with fintech firms who need the services of an FDIC-regulated institution.

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Debt Buying Roundtable at CRS2020 – Althoff and Sangalang Lead

Collection and Recovery Solutions 2020 is happy to announce that Marian Sangalang, Vice President, The Bureaus, Inc. and Sherri Althoff, VP Collections at Alliance Data will provide their insights in a small group discussion at CRS2020 on Friday, May 8th on Debt Buying & Selling.  Join this roundtable to hear more about what is currently happening in the market or about market possibilities in the future.  This discussion will include best practices for the Debt Purchasing and Debt Sales Market.  CRS2020 is an invitation-only event for creditors to be held May 6th - 8th at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas.  Originating creditors can request an invitation at crs@resourcemanagement.com

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CardWorks Announces Acquisition by Ally Financial.

WOODBURY, N.Y.Feb. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardholder Management Services, Inc. ("CardWorks"), a leading non-prime credit card and consumer finance lender with a full-spectrum unsecured servicing platform and robust merchant services capabilities, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) in a transaction valued in excess of $2.65 billion, subject to final closing equity and other adjustments.

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NAFCU to CFPB: Consider costs, exemption under small biz data collection rule

While the CFPB works to assess compliance costs that would be incurred under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which remains unimplemented and requires collection of small business lending information, NAFCU Senior Counsel for Research and Policy Andrew Morris again urged the bureau to exempt credit unions from future rulemaking.

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CRS2020 IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT TELROCK WILL EXHIBIT AT THIS YEAR’S CONFERENCE

We are happy to announce that Telrock will exhibitor at the Collection and Recovery Solutions Conference, May 6-8 in Las Vegas, NV at the Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas.  Be sure to visit them in booth 21 in the Expo Hall.

Telrock is an emerging technology leader of modern SaaS based consumer collection & recovery management software, called Optimus, built new from the ground-up for collections organizations that want to move to the next level of performance. Telrock leverages modern technology, powerful cloud computing, and more intelligent designs to provide the broadest and richest set of platform capabilities, at an attractive price point.

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Fintech Innovation as a Force for Good

Eight of the most progressive minds in finance gathered in New York recently to discuss how fintech innovation and the democratization of data can drive positive societal change, tackle green crime and help work towards a low-carbon future. It’s no overstatement to say that fintech as an industry has the capacity to facilitate transformative good for global society. But there must be willingness from businesses too: To use the tools, to implement the necessary measures, to self-audit. A combined approach could change the world.

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Trump’s DOJ urges Supreme Court to keep CFPB up and running

(Reuters) - Facing an existential threat at the U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear oral arguments on March 3 in a constitutional challenge to the unusual structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the CFPB has found an unlikely champion. The Trump administration believes that the bureau's lone director is unconstitutionally shielded from accountability to the president, yet the Justice Department’s final brief before oral argument urged the Supreme Court not to issue a ruling that will halt the CFPB’s “critical work."

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Eleventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of FDCPA Class Action Relating to Judicial Foreclosure Practices

On February 11, 2020, the United States Circuit Court of Appeal for the Eleventh Circuit issued its opinion in Anderman v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., Case No. 19-13734 regarding the applicability of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) to certain conduct in judicial foreclosure actions. In Anderman, the plaintiffs alleged on behalf of themselves and a class of similarly situated individuals that JPMorgan Chase and its counsel violated the FDCPA by allegedly seeking to collect a debt against the potential heirs of deceased borrowers by naming them in foreclosure complaints. 

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HSBC plans to cut 35,000 jobs as profit drops 33%

(CNN Business)HSBC on Tuesday said it would cut around 35,000 jobs and dramatically overhaul its business after its profit plunged by a third in 2019.  The bank plans to reduce its global headcount by roughly 15% to 200,000 over the next three years, a company spokesperson said, although the precise figures have not been finalized.

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Royal Bank of Scotland dumps its name in rebrand, deepens climate pledge

The Royal Bank of Scotland revealed plans Friday to rebrand its corporate parent to NatWest Group PLC. Ditching the 293-year-old company name marks an attempt by the bank to distance itself from the reputational blow it suffered during the 2007-08 crisis, when British taxpayers were forced to shoulder a 45 billion-pound ($59.3 billion) bailout. The bank is still 62% government-owned, according to The Guardian.

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How fintech has reshaped the business lending process

Fintech is a short form of financial technology. It’s a wave that has turned the financial industry services on its head. Developments in this space have gathered pace in recent years. PWC predictions for 2020 show a wave that’s not about to slow down anytime soon. Nearly every facet of business has been a victim of this disruption: commerce, money transfers, mobile banking, insurance, stock trading, budgeting, to name but a few. Fintech has made inroads in the business lending process too.

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Millennial debt is rising in these U.S. cities

Millennials living in certain U.S. metro areas are seeing increases in non-mortgage debt, according to a study by LendingTree, at a time when Americans’ debt is hitting record highs. Auto debt and student loans account for the biggest portion of non-housing debt for millennials, the generation born between 1981 and 1996. A 2019 report by the New York Fed found that millennials have the worst delinquency rates when it comes to auto loans, and outstanding student debt currently stands at $1.6 trillion spread across 44 million borrowers.

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Capping interest rates on payday loans leads to more debt and defaults

TO THE CASUAL observer, the business of lending to poor, financially unsophisticated people at sky-high interest rates seems inherently predatory. But payday loans, as they are commonly known, are more complicated than they might at first appear. On the one hand, such loans are rarely paid off all at once. Most are rolled over into new loans, sometimes many times over, leaving cash-strapped borrowers caught in a cycle of debt. On the other hand, laws aimed at restricting payday loans can prevent risky borrowers from gaining access to credit. Some may be forced to seek even costlier alternatives.

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Shad Plank: Another consumer protection bill for lenders clears a key hurdle

A second major protection for borrowers who get in over their heads cleared a key General Assembly hurdle Monday as the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee approved a measure to regulate debt settlement companies. It’s an effort that Attorney General Mark Herring and consumer advocates have been pushing for years, concerned that some Virginians trying to negotiate refinancing of their debts are paying too much for too little to private firms that act as middlemen.

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Payday-Loan Fight Goes Bipartisan in States as CFPB Backs Off

Closing a loophole in Georgia’s usury laws that allows auto title lenders to charge interest rates as high as 300% is neither a Democratic nor Republican issue to State Sen. Randy Robertson. The Republican lawmaker sees bringing auto title lenders under the state’s 60% interest rate cap, which has effectively prevented payday lending from taking hold in the state, is about helping people out of desperate circumstances.

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Utah Representative Proposes Bill to Stop Payday Lenders From Taking Bail Money from Borrowers

A Utah lawmaker has proposed a bill to stop high-interest lenders from seizing bail money from borrowers who don’t repay their loans. The bill, introduced in the state’s House of Representatives this week, came in response to a ProPublica investigation in December. The article revealed that payday lenders and other high-interest loan companies routinely sue borrowers in Utah’s small claims courts and take the bail money of those who are arrested, and sometimes jailed, for missing a hearing.

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A new Senate bill would create a US data protection agency

Europe's data protection laws are some of the strictest in the world, and have long been a thorn in the side of the data-guzzling Silicon Valley tech giants since they colonized vast swathes of the internet.   Two decades later, one Democratic senator wants to bring many of those concepts to the United States.

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Big banks are set up to ‘kill’ change, says founder of $2.5 billion fintech firm Monzo

Tom Blomfield doesn’t think big banks will ever undergo a digital transformation. The British fintech entrepreneur says banking behemoths like Barclays and HSBC are saddled with outdated technology and a risk-averse culture to respond to the challenge that upstarts like his digital bank, Monzo, present. “The banks really focus very hard on their existing set of financial products,” Blomfield, co-founder and CEO of Monzo, said in an interview. By that, he means things like mortgages, loans and credit cards — “balance sheet products, basically.”

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Supervisory Highlights, Issue No. 21 (Winter 2020)

In this issue of Supervisory Highlights, we report examination findings in the areas of debt collection, mortgage servicing, payday lending, and student loan servicing that were completed between April 2019 and August 2019. The report does not impose any new or different legal requirements, and all violations described in the report are based only on those specific facts and circumstances noted during those examinations.

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California AG issues modifications to proposed CCPA Regulations

The modified proposed regulations clarify that “personal information” does not include information that a business collected but cannot reasonably link to a consumer.  For example, “if a business collects the IP addresses of visitors to its website but does not link the IP address to any particular consumer or household, and could not reasonably link the IP address with a particular consumer or household” then the IP address would not be “personal information.”  This is a particularly important limitation for businesses that don’t have a direct relationship with California consumers but rather only collect personal information via the website.

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The CFPB’s economic army to promote consumer welfare

Last October, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced its intention to create a Task Force on Federal Consumer Financial Law. Inspired by the 1972 National Commission on Consumer Finance, the task force is intended to examine the whole of consumer finance law academically, something that hasn’t been done since the 1972 commission. Wasting no time, early this January, CFPB Director Kathleen Kraninger announced the members and chairman for the Task Force, putting an exclamation point on her goal of ensuring that the CFPB’s efforts are razor focused on promoting consumer welfare.

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CRS2020 Highlighted Session: Millennial Collection Leaders Take The Stage

Happy to announce that a young group of leaders will take the stage at Collection and Recovery Solutions 2020, held May 6th - 8th at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas. These collection leaders will take their thoughts on how they have succeeded in their organizations, as well as managing collection teams, whether millennial or non-millennial. Discussions will include motivation of millennials and those older and younger, bridging the gap, job design, flexibility, communication and engagement, culture, respecting differences and so much more. Join us at CRS2020 to hear this and other engaging collection operations and compliance discussions. This invitation-only event is geared for senior level creditors. Specialty peer groups also meet: Auto Finance, Credit Union, Millennials, Recovery Management Network and FinTech Collections - Lender Peer Group. For more info, contact crs@resourcemanagement.com

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Consumer Privacy and Legal Risk: What to Look for in the Decade to Come

As the new year and decade begins, consumer privacy issues have never been more top of mind – especially with the impending enactment of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This groundbreaking and sweeping legislation could be the gold standard around which other state and federal privacy laws are formed, but many corporations are taking a “wait and see” approach before addressing their data security and sharing issues and implementing changes. 

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New Report Finds Internet Users Overwhelmed by Identity Theft Worries

HELSINKI, Feb. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report from cyber security provider F-Secure finds a steady barrage of major data breaches have left a vast majority of consumers worried about the online crimes that lead to identity theft and account takeovers." data-reactid="12" 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;">PRNewswire-- A new report from cyber security provider F-Secure finds a steady barrage of major data breaches have left a vast majority of consumers worried about the online crimes that lead to identity theft and account takeovers.  The report, Is ID theft the cyber crime we fear most? A look at consumer views on identity theft and cyber crime, includes findings from a consumer survey of nine countries, such as:*

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Attorney General Josh Stein Condemns Federal Proposal that Would Allow Predatory Lenders to Exploit Consumers

(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein opposed a proposal by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to preempt state laws that regulate payday and other high-cost lending. The FDIC’s proposed regulations would let predatory lenders circumvent state laws through “rent-a-bank” schemes, in which banks act as lenders in name only, passing along their state law exemptions to non-bank payday lenders.

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Credit card debt in the U.S. hits all-time high of $930 billion—here’s how to tackle yours with a balance transfer

Credit card debt hit a record high of $930 billion for Americans in the final quarter of 2019, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released on Feb. 11. That’s a $46 billion increase in credit card balances from the prior quarter and up an alarming $57 billion over the same period in 2018. The Fed’s report sheds light on the growing debt issue in America and the increased risk facing younger consumers.

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JPMorgan sets July deadline for fintechs to sign new data access deals: sources

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) has told financial technology companies they will be barred from accessing its customer information by July 30 unless they sign data access agreements with the bank and back a plan to stop using customer passwords to gather the data.

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Background on the CCPA & the Rulemaking Process

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), enacted in 2018, creates new consumer rights relating to the access to, deletion of, and sharing of personal information that is collected by businesses. It also requires the Attorney General to solicit broad public participation and adopt regulations to further the CCPA’s purposes. The proposed regulations would establish procedures to facilitate consumers’ new rights under the CCPA and provide guidance to businesses for how to comply. The Attorney General cannot bring an enforcement action under the CCPA until July 1, 2020.

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JP Morgan Chase to invest millions in jobs training and education

JPMorgan Chasesays it's putting millions behind a push to help students get the schooling and experience necessary to land a high-paying job in a growing field.   Jamie Dimon, the bank's chairman and CEO, was set to announce Wednesday that JP Morgan Chase will dedicate $75 million to an initiative that will focus on preparing students in ten cities over five years.   

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CONSOLIDATED ASSET RECOVERY SYSTEMS, INC. TO EXHIBIT AT CRS2020

Collection and Recovery Solutions 2020 is happy to announce that Consolidated Asset Recovery Systems, Inc. will be exhibiting at this year’s conference, May 6-8 in Las Vegas, NV at the Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas.  Be sure to visit them in booth 40 in the Expo Hall.

For more information about the Collections and Recovery Solutions conference please visit us at http://www.collectionrecoverysolutions.com/

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Fitch raises red flags about CFPB plan to eliminate DTI requirement from QM lending rules

Some of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders and housing trade groups may support the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s plan to eliminate the debt-to-income ratio requirement of the Qualified Mortgage rule, but one of the top credit rating agencies claims the change would be dangerous for borrowers. In a note sent out Wednesday, Fitch Ratings stated that moving away from using DTI in the mortgage underwriting process would “weaken” borrower protections from “aggressive lending practices.”

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CRI PROMOTES KARENA HOLT TO SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS

LOWELL, Arkansas,  – Central Research Inc. (CRI), a provider of customized management and financial service solutions for government and commercial sectors, has promoted Karena Holt to Senior Vice President.
Holt joined the company in August 2015 as Vice President of Operations, overseeing the U.S. Department of Education (ED) debt collection contract. She has been instrumental in growing the contract, significantly increasing volume and expanding operations to multiple offices. Holt’s commitment to compliance and ensuring adherence to the contract terms, while also simultaneously guiding the development of the operation staff, has been key in the contract’s success.

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Kelli Edmonds To Faciliate Auto Finance Peer Group at CRS2020

Happy to announce that Kelli Edmonds of Santander will once again facilitate the Auto Finance Peer Group break out session at Collection and Recovery Solutions 2020.  This group meets on Thursday afternoon, May 7th, and provides an opportunity for auto finance creditors to meet and discuss issues and concerns related to collection and recovery. (Sorry, no vendors allowed to these breakout discussions.) Kelli Edmonds is the Senior Vice President - Vendor Management at Santander Consumer USA with oversight of third party relationships at an enterprise level. Collections and Recovery Solutions 2020 will be held May 6th - 8th at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas.  In addition to a packed agenda, this year will include a special pre-conference "Skip Strategies" session on Tuesday afternoon, from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.  Check www.crs2020.com for more details.

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Industry Events

 
The Payments Summit 2020

The Payments Summit

Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek
75 South West Temple , Salt Lake City, UT 84101, US
February 24 - 27 , 2020

1.800.556.6828

2020 Annual Utilities Credit & Collections Symposium

Conferences By Monticello

Hyatt Regency Coral Gables, Florida
50 Alhambra Plaza , Coral Gables, Florida, United States, 33134
March 02 - 04 , 2020

(843) 277-1620

ACA International 2020 Spring Forum & Expo

ACA International

M Resort Las Vegas
12300 S Las Vegas Blvd , Henderson, NV 89044
March 11 - 13 , 2020

(800) 269-1607

BUMP Collections! Dallas

A "CollectoRMSeries" course by Resource Management Services, Inc.

March 12th BUMP Collections! course to be taught in Dallas, Texas. A June course is expected to be announced for Southern California. An October course is expected to be announced for Atlanta. Call us if you're interested in those courses, and we'll provide info as it is confirmed.

March 12 - 12 , 2020

562-906-1101

Commercial Payments International

EuroFinance

Hilton Amsterdam
Apollolaan 138, 1077 BG , Amsterdam, Netherlands
March 16 - 17 , 2020

+ 44 207 576 8555

AFCC Spring Conference – 2020

Eden Roc – Miami Beach
4525 Collins Ave , Miami Beach, FL 33140
March 22 - 23 , 2020

https://conference.americanfaircreditcouncil.org/

NAPCP Commercial Card and Payment Conference: P-Card, Travel Card, ePayables

NAPCP

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada
3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South , Las Vegas, NV 89109
April 06 - 09 , 2020

952-546-1880 ext. 4

NCUCA – National Credit Union Collection Alliance 2020

NCUCA National Credit Union Collections Alliance

Bellagio Las Vegas
3600 S Las Vegas Blvd , Las Vegas, NV 89109
April 15 - 17 , 2020

https://www.ncuca.com/contact/

Collection and Recovery Solutions 2020

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

Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas
3960 Las Vegas Blvd South , Las Vegas, NV 89119, US
May 06 - 08 , 2020

562-906-1101

LendIt Fintech USA

Save 15% with our Discount Code: DC15%

Javits Center, New York
New York
May 13 - 14 , 2020

www.lendit.com

National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees 2020

National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT)

Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina
333 W Harbor Dr. , San Diego, CA 92101
July 08 - 11 , 2020

800-445-8629

Debt Connection Symposium & Expo 2020

Resource Management Services, Inc.

Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa
11011 W Charleston Blvd , Las Vegas, NV 89135
September 15 - 17 , 2020

562-906-1101

Auto finance Summit 2020

Royal Media

Wynn Las Vegas
3131 S Las Vegas Blvd , Las Vegas, NV 89109
October 20 - 22 , 2020

https://www.autofinancesummit.com/contact-us

More information about Debt Connection Symposium
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More information about Bump Collection Courses
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More information about Debt Connection Symposium
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