A group of 12 Republican Senators have sent a letter to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra in which they urge him “to reverse course and stop using inappropriate tactics to harm financial institutions’ reputations and customer relationships in order to advance your liberal policy preferences.”

In their letter, the Senators assert that “rather than operating as a tough, but fair and sensible regulator, the CFPB is again pursing a radical and highly-politicized agenda unbounded by statutory limits.” … Continue Reading

The results of a recent poll on buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) conducted on behalf of the Financial Technology Association (FTA) indicate that BNPL products are viewed favorably by a strong majority of adults who have used BNPL.  The poll was conducted through online interviews of a sample of 2210 adults and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of adults based on gender, age, race, educational attainment, and region.  … Continue Reading

On September 9, 2022, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation (the “DFPI”) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Action that proposes to adopt regulations implementing the Student Loan Servicing Act (section 28100, et seq.) and the Student Loans: Borrower Rights Law (Civil Code section 1788.100, et seq.). … Continue Reading

The magistrate judge assigned to hold a settlement conference in All American Check Cashing has issued an order stating that the matter did not settle at the settlement conference conducted on September 7.  The order also states that the court will notice a telephonic conference to continue settlement discussions.

The case was remanded to the district court by the en banc Fifth Circuit, which ruled that the CFPB’s enforcement action against All American Check Cashing could proceed despite the unconstitutionality of the CFPB’s single-director-removable-only-for-cause-structure at the time the enforcement action was filed. … Continue Reading

On August 31, 2022, the California Senate voted to approve House Assembly Bill 156, and sent the bill to Governor Newsom for consideration and potential signature.  If it becomes law, the bill would amend the existing California Debt Collection Act (the “DCLA”) in three ways.

First, the bill would amend provisions of Cal.… Continue Reading

A New York federal district court has issued an order allowing a putative class action to proceed against Trustco Bank, finding that the plaintiff had stated a claim for breach of contract based on the bank’s assessment of non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees.  The complaint in Jenkins v. Trustco Bank alleges that Trustco’s assessment of multiple NSF fees on the same transaction constituted 1) a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, 2) unjust enrichment, 3) a deceptive act or practice under New York General Business Law § 349, and 4) a breach of contract. … Continue Reading

On September 7, 2022, newly-appointed Vice Chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve (the “Fed”), Michael S. Barr, gave a speech outlining his near-term goals and the “holistic approach” he intends to take to achieve them.  Building on the efforts made over the previous 12 years since the Global Financial Crisis to strengthen the banking system and oversight, Barr emphasized his top goals include making the financial system safer and fairer. … Continue Reading

The August 31 closing of the California legislative session likely marked the end of hopes for an extension of the limited exemptions for employee and business-to-business (B2B) data that have existed for the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) since its inception.  As a result, when the the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) goes into effect on January 1, 2023, employee and B2B data will be treated the same as consumer data. … Continue Reading

Since the beginning of Michael Hsu’s tenure as Acting Comptroller of the Currency, bank/fintech partnerships have been a focus of OCC concern.  Although bank lending partnerships with fintechs continue to receive OCC attention, recent remarks by OCC officials indicate that OCC scrutiny is now also directed at partnerships outside of the lending arena.… Continue Reading

On September 6, 2022, Curinos published an update to their “Competition Drives Overdraft Disruption” study published in December 2021.  Curinos was formed from the combination of two data driven business intelligence companies, Novantas and Informa’s FBX business.     

As has been previously reported by the CFPB through a blog post and two December 2021 overdraft reports, which we previously blogged about here and here, many banks have announced innovations and policy changes in the past year to enhance their overdraft programs and reduce consumer harm.… Continue Reading