On March 18, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it entered into proposed orders with two fintech firms, resolving allegations of misconduct tied to the firms’ involvement in federal COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Programs (PPP). Specifically, the proposed orders resolve allegations that the firms violated Section 5(a) of the FTC Act,…
On January 9, 2024, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced that it entered into a consent order with a Delaware fintech company that provided California consumers with access to an internet-based platform for merchants to offer installment payments for the purchase of outdoor-adventure equipment. According to the consent order, since at…
On March 2, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a report (Report) exploring the financial profiles of consumers of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) products. The Report is based on the CFPB’s 2022 Making Ends Meet survey, which included data from 2,036 consumers and data from credit bureaus. …
In August 2021, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Federal Reserve and, collectively with the OCC and the FDIC, the Agencies) released a joint bulletin titled “Conducting Due Diligence on…
On July 12, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a consent order (the Consent Order) against a Fintech company that facilitates home improvement loans (the Fintech). The CFPB claims that the Fintech enabled “contractors and other merchants to take out loans on behalf of thousands of consumers who…
On June 3, 2021, the Second Circuit ruled that the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) lacked legal standing to challenge the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC’s) fintech charter program. The Second Circuit concluded that DFS lacked Article III standing because it failed to allege…
On February 25, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Kansas issued an opinion granting summary judgment in favor of CardX, LLC (CardX), and found unconstitutional “a Kansas law that prohibits sellers from imposing a ‘surcharge’ at the time of sale on consumers who pay by credit…
On February 3, 2021, California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced that it has commenced its first formal enforcement action and launched a separate investigation into student loan debt relief companies. Goodwin previously provided an overview of three new California consumer finance laws that became effective in January 2021,…
In January 2021, the new California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) entered into memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with five earned wage access fintech companies so that these companies can continue to operate in California while providing consumers with protection against abusive practices. The DFPI, often referred to as…
As LenderLaw Watch previously reported, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued its final rule on the True Lender doctrine in October 2020, addressing ambiguity in federal law and establishing that a national bank is the “true lender” of a loan when, as of the date of…
On December 11, 2019, PayPal, Inc. (PayPal) filed suit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the District of Columbia, challenging the CFPB’s Prepaid Accounts Under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (Regulation E) and the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z) Rule’s application to digital wallets. PayPal, Inc. v….
On January 17, 2017, Maria Vullo, the Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (NY DFS) sent a letter to the Office of the Comptroller Currency (OCC), opposing the OCC’s proposed special purpose charter for Fintech companies. The NY DFS adds to the existing resistance by state…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) recently-released Request for Information Regarding Consumer Access to Financial Records (RFI) suggests that the agency is considering making a new rule to set requirements and protections for the use of consumers’ financial information. In publishing the RFI, the CFPB notes that the Dodd-Frank Act “provides…
At the end of October, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) released its Recommendations and Decisions for Implementing a Responsible Innovation Framework (the “Recommendations”). The Recommendations are the latest step in a long process the OCC has undertaken to try to revamp its approach to new financial…
On June 23, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) hosted a daylong forum, “Supporting Responsible Innovation in the Federal Banking System.” The purpose of the forum was to encourage a dialogue among stakeholders about what framework the OCC should adopt to encourage responsible innovation and provide…
On March 31, 2016 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a white paper setting forth its vision of responsible innovation, and signaling its increasing involvement in the financial technology (Fintech) space. The white paper, titled “Supporting Responsible Innovation in the Federal Banking System: An OCC Perspective,”…
On March 7, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it will begin collecting complaints from consumers about online marketplace lenders, signaling its intention to increasingly regulate the evolving and growing Financial Technology (Fintech) industry. The CFPB announcement emphasized that marketplace lending is “a relatively new kind of…
On March 12, 2015, the Senate Intelligence Committee took an important step in advancing a comprehensive bill titled the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (“CISA”) aimed at bolstering U.S. companies and the federal government’s cyber security protections. But some privacy watchdogs and other government officials are openly wondering whether…
On January 15, 2015, New York’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, proposed a new law that NY hopes will balance business and consumer interests while establishing New York as a leader in data security. The main effect of the proposed legislation would be to expand the definition of private information to…
On June 11, as a result of the growing use of mobile banking services across the country, the CFPB announced that it was conducting a request for information into the benefits and consequences of expanding mobile financial services. Its focus is underserved and remote communities, but any actions the CFPB…