The templates are meant to make it easier to obtain agency approval for small-dollar loan products and to accommodate mortgage servicers that want to provide online loss mitigation options.
The comptroller of the currency, expected to step down Thursday after two and a half years on the job, ruffled feathers and won some fans in pushing through CRA reform, cutting costs and trying to reshape the agency’s examiner culture.
Four federal agencies offered guidance Wednesday on how to offer products that compete against payday loans without incurring Washington's wrath. The announcement could spark the rebirth of deposit advances, which were regulated out of existence during the Obama administration.
Some bankers, economists, policy experts and even Mark Cuban say that creative uses of overdraft programs could be lifelines for consumers and businesses whose finances have been upended by the coronavirus crisis.
The $5.9 billion-asset Liberty Bank in Middletown had set aside $5 million to make small-dollar loans to customers affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Regulators point to traditional financial institutions as well-positioned to meet short-term credit needs during the coronavirus pandemic, but there are still a host of questions about whether the industry should try to compete with high-cost lenders.
Citigroup CEO says it’s a “fine line” between supporting customers and burdening them with debt; Goldman gives away 600,000 N95 masks it had from prior scares.
The joint statement said examiners will not impede banks’ responsible efforts to offer open lines of credit, closed-installment loans or other products to borrowers dealing with fallout from the pandemic.
Banks typically don't offer loans to cash-strapped consumers, and are poorly positioned to start doing so on an emergency basis — unless the government steps in to help.
