On February 15, Massachusetts became the latest state to introduce legislation to regulate earned wage access (EWA) products and services. House Bill (HB) 4456 would create a new chapter to the Massachusetts Code explicitly...more
Can digital comparison-shopping operators or lead generators violate the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) by preferencing products or services based on financial benefit? According to today’s guidance issued by the...more
On February 23, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released an order, dated November 30, 2023, establishing supervisory authority over installment lender World Acceptance Corp. The CFPB found that it...more
In this special joint episode of Payments Pros and The Crypto Exchange, Ethan Ostroff, James Kim, and Carlin McCrory discuss the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) proposed rule to supervise large tech companies...more
Recently, three Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry, Mike Flood, and French Hill, sent a joint letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or...more
2/23/2024
/ Comment Period ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Digital Wallets ,
Electronic Payment Transactions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mobile Payments ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda
On February 12, ten Rhode Island senators introduced S 2275, a bill proposing to opt Rhode Island out of §§ 521-523 of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDMCA). On February 13, HF 3680 was...more
2/15/2024
/ Banks ,
Borrowers ,
Credit ,
Depository Institutions ,
DIDMCA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interest Rates ,
Opt-Outs ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rhode Island ,
True Lender
Join us for the second episode of our Year in Review and a Look Ahead series, where we delve into the fintech world. Our host, Chris Willis, co-leader of Troutman Pepper's Consumer Financial Services Regulatory practice, is...more
Recently, Lead Bank and its loan servicer Hyphen, LLC, an online lending platform operating Helix Financial, filed a motion to dismiss a purported class action alleging violations of the Georgia Installment Loan Act (GILA)...more
2/7/2024
/ Annual Percentage Rate (APR) ,
Banks ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Installment Agreements ,
Loan Agreements ,
Loan Servicer ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Payday Loans ,
RICO ,
Statutory Violations
Recently, Arizona, Kentucky, and Hawaii have jumped on the bandwagon to regulate earned wage access (EWA) products and services. Arizona’s proposed bill makes clear that EWA services are not considered to be loans or money...more
2/2/2024
/ Arizona ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Debt ,
Debt Collectors ,
Earned Wage Access ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insufficient Funds ,
Overdraft Fees ,
Payday Loans ,
State and Local Government ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA) ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wages
We are pleased to share our annual review of regulatory and legal developments in the consumer financial services industry. With active federal and state legislatures, consumer financial services providers faced a challenging...more
2/1/2024
/ Automotive Loans ,
Banks ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Bankruptcy ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Debt Collection ,
Digital Assets ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Mortgages ,
Student Loans ,
Tribal Loans ,
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
On January 9, a group of five bi-partisan South Carolina Senators introduced Bill 910, which would, among other things, require persons (non-bank lenders) providing “consumer installment loans” or “deferred presentment loans”...more
1/29/2024
/ Ability-to-Repay ,
Borrowers ,
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Loans ,
Non-Bank Lenders ,
Payday Loans ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulation Z
Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued a proposed rule with request for public comment to prohibit covered financial institutions from charging nonsufficient funds fees (NSF) for payment...more
1/29/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insufficient Funds ,
Overdraft Fees ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation Z ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
On January 2, New York Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled her 2024 consumer protection agenda, which includes plans to regulate the “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) industry. Specifically, Governor Hochul plans to propose legislation...more
On December 22, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen issued an opinion on whether Earned Wage Access (EWA) products constitute either “consumer loans” under Montana Code § 32-5-102(2)(a) or “deferred deposit loans” under §...more
Late last month, Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie introduced B 25-0609, entitled the Protecting Affordable Loans Amendment Act of 2023, that proposes to opt the District of Columbia out of sections 521-523 of the Depository...more
12/29/2023
/ Banks ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
DIDMCA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Loans ,
Opt-Outs ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
True Lender ,
Usury
Washington now joins the list of states that have enacted or proposed legislation adopting so-called anti-evasion provisions, including legislation passed in Minnesota, Connecticut, Nebraska, and proposed in Florida. On...more
12/22/2023
/ Banks ,
Consumer Financial Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Lenders ,
Loans ,
Membership Agreements ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
True Lender ,
Washington
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released its 14th annual report to Congress in fulfillment of its requirements under the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act. For the...more
12/21/2023
/ CARD Act ,
Colleges ,
Consumer Financial Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Credit Cards ,
Educational Institutions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Late Fees ,
New Regulations ,
Students ,
Universities
In this special joint episode of Payments Pros and The Consumer Finance Podcast, Carlin McCrory, Keith Barnett, James Kim, and Chris Willis discuss the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) proposed larger participant...more
This week, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued guidance to banks on managing the risks associated with “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) lending. Specifically, the bulletin addresses BNPL loans that are...more
In March 2023, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) proposed new regulations under the California Financing Law that would update the definition of loan to include what it dubs as...more
12/7/2023
/ California ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) ,
Employees ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Loans ,
New Regulations ,
Regulation Z ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA) ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wages
On October 9, a Florida state senator introduced SB 146, which would add a new section to the Florida Consumer Finance Act (CFA), attempting to curb evasion of the CFA. SB 146 would treat all payments incident to the loan as...more
On November 7, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a proposed rule with request for public comment to amend existing regulations defining “larger participants” the CFPB supervises by adding a new section to...more
11/9/2023
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Reports ,
Debt Collection ,
Digital Wallets ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act ,
Mobile Payments ,
Nonbank Firms ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment
On November 3, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) voted unanimously to finalize the procedures for designating a nonbank financial company for Federal Reserve supervision. FSOC’s Interpretive Guidance aims to...more
11/8/2023
/ Banks ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FRB ,
FSOC ,
Nonbank Firms ,
Oral Hearings ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Supervisory Guidance ,
U.S. Treasury
On October 24, the Biden-Harris administration announced amendments to the regulations implementing title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). According to the fact sheet, the amendments are intended to allow the...more
11/3/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
Financial Aid ,
Financial Institutions ,
Higher Education Act ,
Public Comment ,
Statutory Requirements ,
Student Loans ,
Students ,
Title IV ,
Transcripts ,
Tuition
On October 12, in its monthly bulletin the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (CA DFPI) announced that final regulations to implement the Student Loan Servicing Act and the Student Loans Borrower...more