Weeks after federal regulators finalized rules aimed at making prepaid cards safer and less costly for consumers, a new report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. finds that more households are relying on the financial products than ever before. [More]
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College Financial Service Provider Higher One To Pay More Than $55M In Fines, Refunds For Misleading Students
By 12.23.15
Higher One, Inc. promises to help students reach their goal of achieving a degree by providing money management and refund services. But federal regulators say the company misled these students into paying improper fees, opening unneeded accounts through deceptive marketing tactics, and now it must pay $55 million in fines and restitution to harmed consumers. [More]
Sallie Mae Spinoff Navient Could Face CFPB Lawsuit Over Student Loans
By 8.25.15
In the short time since Navient – the nation’s largest student loan servicing company – spun off from Sallie Mae, the company has come under scrutiny for it allegedly unfair practices of overcharging and imposing excessive fees on consumers’ loans. While those practices resulted in a $97 million settlement with the Depts. of Education and Justice, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, they could soon lead to a lawsuit from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. [More]
Fifth Third Bank Backtracks On Its Pledge To End Payday Loans
By 11.4.14
In early 2014, the four major banks still offering customers payday loan-like services announced they would discontinue their often under-fire programs by the end of the year. Apparently Fifth Third Bank has changed its mind, announcing plans to continue with a revised, supposedly less harmful version of the service for existing customers. But consumer groups say the revamped service doesn’t actually address the problems that led banks to discontinue programs in the first place. [More]
1-In-4 Americans Turn To Payday Loans & Other High-Cost Financial Products
By 10.29.14
When discussing the topic of payday loans — or other high-cost, short-term financial products like auto-title loans and check-cashing — there can be a tendency to treat them like something that only a small percentage of Americans use. But a new report from the FDIC confirms that 25% of us have turned to one of these potentially predatory services in the past year, and that this rate has not been going down. [More]
Regulators Warn Banks To Plug Any Heartbleed Security Holes ASAP
By 4.11.14
While most major services you use like Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Twitter and others have likely (and hopefully) patched up any security holes at risk from the Heartbleed bug, U.S. regulators are warning banks to update their systems as well, and quickly. [More]
The Consumerist 101 Guide To Understanding Your Financial Regulators
By 3.22.14
Washington, D.C., might as well be called Acronym City. It feels like there are a zillion different, discrete agencies, organizations, bureaus, boards, and commissions within the federal government, each with its own graceless three-, four-, or five-initial moniker, forming the tangled web of a bureaucracy that regulates… well, almost everything. So what are the key regulatory agencies, anyway? Who oversees what, and who do they report to, and how does it all work? [More]
Big Banks Don’t Want To Be Transparent About Checking Fees If Little Banks Don’t Have To Be
By 2.21.14
If we were to play a word-association game with the nation’s largest banks, we’re sure that terms like “fair” and “equitable” would be right on the tip of peoples’ tongues. And because big banks always play fair with everyone else, they are asking that their checking-account fees not be put under the regulatory microscope if smaller banks’ fees aren’t going be subject to the same scrutiny. [More]
What Can A Regulator With A Sense Of Ethics Do After Leaving The Feds? Try Not To Become A Lobbyist.
By 2.5.14
After many years building your career, you’ve reached such a level of good reputation and success that you’ve been tapped to lead a major federal regulatory agency for a few years. Wow! That’s real power. Great job! But your term ends, or the administration changes, and your time in charge of the agency is done. You feel strongly that you’ve got another decade or two in you before retirement, though. So what’s your next move? [More]
Federal Government To Issue New Guidelines For Banks Dealing With Legal Marijuana Businesses
By 1.24.14
Now that marijuana for recreational use is doing booming business in Colorado where it’s legal (with Washington State to join it eventually) the federal government is getting around to answering some weighty questions. Namely, how will it deal with the revenue coming in from pot sales? [More]
Number Of U.S. Banks Hits Record Low
By 12.3.13
Back in 1985, there were around 18,000 different federally insured banks operating in the U.S. But in the nearly three decades since, numerous failures and mass consolidation has left us with around 38% of that 1985 number, meaning Americans now have the fewest banking options since the federal government began tracking these stats back in 1934. [More]
FDIC & OCC Ask Banks To Please Stop Issuing Payday Loans As “Direct Deposit Advances”
By 11.21.13
While many payday lending operations are not directly tied to federally insured banks, some of the biggest names in banking — most notably Wells Fargo — offer what are effectively payday loans via “Direct Deposit Advance Loans.” But today the FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have given some guidance to the banks they regulate, basically saying “That’s enough of that, don’t ya think?” [More]
Even The Former FDIC Chair Isn’t Safe From The Clutches Of Retailer Credit Cards
By 11.13.13
The next time you’re banging your head against the wall and moaning over what an idiot you’ve been to ignore late credit card payments, know this: You are not alone. Also you’re not an idiot, but if the woman who used to head up the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation can get entangled in problems with retailer credit cards, it can happen to anybody. [More]
Regulators Ask Banks To Not Be Jerks To Customers Affected By Shutdown
By 10.9.13
The shutdown of the federal government is now a week old, meaning a growing number of furloughed workers — and employees of businesses whose income depends on government contracts — are having trouble keeping up with their bills. In a joint statement today, five regulators have asked banks and other financial institutions to be mindful of customers who are directly impacted by the current staring contest. [More]
Are Prepaid Cards Improving Or Are They Still A Confusing Mess Of Hidden Fees?
By 7.30.13
First, the good news: Our wiser, elder siblings at Consumer Reports have ranked the best and worst prepaid cards for the very first time, and it seems many cards have lower fees and act a lot like traditional bank accounts. But now for the bad news: Fee information can still be tricky to find and many cards don’t come with the guarantees you can get with a regular debit card. [More]
Sen. Warren Asks Bank Regulators If “Too Big To Fail” Has Become “Too Big For Trial”
By 2.14.13
In her first hearing as a member of the Senate Banking Committee, Massachusetts Senator and longtime Consumerist favorite Elizabeth Warren grilled a panel of regulators on their tendency to settle with law-breaking banks rather than go to trial. [More]
Senators Call For An End To Payday Lending By Banks
By 1.10.13
Four of the nation’s largest banks — Wells Fargo, Fifth Third Bank, U.S. Bank and Regions Bank — are involved in high-interest, short-term loans that may not always be called “payday” loans but might as well be. Thus, a group of five U.S. senators have asked regulators to put a stop to the practice altogether. [More]
Bank Of America Fires Investment Banker Over 1998 Dine & Dash At Denny’s
By 10.30.12 — Updated: 11.1.12
More than a few people are upset at large financial institutions for their apparent lack of accountability following the 2008 economic collapse, so the banks and their regulators have paid lip service to the idea of having tougher standards. As a result, one investment banker says he was fired from Bank of America for a minor breakfast-related misunderstanding from 1998. [More]
