Recent steps that would help nonbank lenders enter the traditional banking system, like a proposal clarifying the industrial loan company charter, are needed but face strong opposition.
The company's plan had drawn strong criticism from bankers about Rakuten's potentially controlling an industrial loan company while engaging in its non-financial businesses.
In signing off on deposit insurance for the payments giant and student loan servicer, the FDIC sanctioned the first new industrial loan companies in over a decade.
Most states have some kind of pricing limit on consumer loans. But proposals for a national usury law divide even Democrats, some of whom are concerned about restricting credit.
Bankers groups are keeping close tabs on a host of legislative and gubernatorial proposals, from prize-linked savings accounts in Iowa to rent control in Massachusetts to a slew of bills modeled after California's recently passed data privacy law.
Gavin Newsom's proposal to create a consumer watchdog modeled after the CFPB includes a provision that would make it easier for upstart financial firms to obtain industrial loan charters.
