Bank Products

CFPB: Bureau Encourages Credit Card Companies to Consider More Transparent Promotions

Bureau Notes that Deferred-Interest Promotions May Lack Transparency, Carry Risks to Consumers WASHINGTON, D.C.– The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced it has sent letters to top retail credit card companies encouraging them to consider using more transparent promotions. Many retailers use credit cards with deferred-interest promotions – offers of no interest for a…

Census Bureau: Wealth and Asset Ownership Data Tables Released

The U.S. Census Bureau released today the 2013 Wealth and Asset Ownership Detailed Tables highlighting household net worth from the Survey of Income and Program Participation. These tables highlight annual household net worth estimates at the national level and are broken down by selected characteristics, such as race, household structure and poverty status. The Survey…

CFPB: Seeking Comment on Plan for Assessing the ATR/QM Rule

Today, we released our plan to assess the effectiveness of the Ability-to-Repay/Qualified Mortgage rule (ATR/QM rule). We are asking the public to comment on our plan, to suggest sources of data, and generally to provide information that would help with the assessment. We see conducting the assessment as an opportunity. Conducting the assessment will advance…

CFPB: Office of Servicemember Affairs Guides Military through Financial Hurdles

We’re releasing our fifth annual servicemember report, The Office of Servicemember Affairs: charting our course through the military lifecycle. Servicemembers matter. We created this report to highlight some of the most common financial struggles servicemembers face during their military careers. These struggles are well documented in the over 74,000 complaints we have handled from the military…

ABA: Call for Entries for the Foundation’s Community Commitment Awards

Deadline for entries is June 30 ​WASHINGTON — The American Bankers Association Foundation is requesting submissions for its annual Community Commitment Awards to recognize banks’ essential involvement in their communities. The awards will honor innovative, high impact bank programs that improve the quality of life for the customers and communities they serve. The entry period…

Federal Reserve: Where Do Banks Fit in the FinTech Stack?

Speech Governor Lael Brainard At the Northwestern Kellogg Public-Private Interface Conference on “New Developments in Consumer Finance: Research & Practice” We can learn a lot from the evolution of smartphones as we try to envisage where the fintech ecosystem–and banks’ role within it–might be heading in the future. Smartphones have ushered in an age when…

FDIC: Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion to Meet This Week

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion (ComE-IN) will meet on Thursday, April 27 to discuss measures banks may consider to reach underserved populations, such as collaborations with community-based organizations; resources for affordable mortgage lending; and new research that may be used to more effectively target resources to promote broader access…

ABA: Bankers Celebrate 20th Anniversary of Teaching Children to Save April 28th

Estimated 450,000 children will be reached in 2017 through Teach Children to Save WASHINGTON — Nearly 11,500 bankers will host financial education events across the country this week in celebration of Teach Children to Save Day on April 28. Since 1997, Teach Children to Save and the ABA Foundation’s financial education initiatives have reached approximately…

CFPB: Effective Date Extension Finalized for Prepaid Accounts Rule

Today, we released a final rule delaying the general effective date of our rule governing prepaid accounts by six months. The rule will now take effect on April 1, 2018. We have also decided to revisit at least two substantive issues in the prepaid accounts rule through a separate notice and comment rulemaking process. We expect…

OCC: One-on-One Industry Meetings Announced as Part of Office of Innovation Office Hours

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced it will establish an office dedicated to responsible innovation and implement a formal framework to improve the agency’s ability to identify, understand, and respond to financial innovation affecting the federal banking system. “The OCC supports responsible innovation that enhances the safety and…