The Senate Banking Committee’s subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection is holding a hearing today titled: “Are Alternative Financial Products Serving Consumers?”  Observers have noted that the hearing could provide insight into the priorities of Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown who chairs the subcommittee and is expected to become chair of the full Banking Committee if Democrats maintain control of the Senate.  

The witnesses scheduled to appear are: G. Michael Flores, CEO of Bretton Woods, Incorporated; Stephanie Klein, Director of NetCredit Consumer Lending, Enova International; Nick Bourke, Project Director of the Safe Small-Dollar Loans Research Project, The Pew Charitable Trusts; David Rothstein, Director of Resource Development and Public Affairs for the Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland; and Nathalie Martin, Frederick M. Hart Chair in Consumer and Clinical Law at the University of New Mexico School of Law.

The hearing follows on the heels of the CFPB’s issuance of its latest payday lending report and Director Cordray’s promise to issue rules with respect to that industry.