Blog

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  • August 29, 2014
    Consumer Finance Optimism Drops in July The CBA/AOL monthly Finance Optimism Index dropped back into negative territory to -3.0 for July 2014. The drop of 6.8 points follows the first positive results for the index since January 2014. Contributing factors to this decline include turmoil across the globe, increased concern about personal financial outlooks, and a decrease in positive economic news...
  • August 22, 2014
    Helping the Under-banked by Repealing the Durbin Amendment An opinion piece recently penned by Todd Zywicki, Geoff Manne, and Julian Morris in Forbes , drills down on what many in our industry knew when we learned of the Durbin Amendment: it would be the death of the free checking account. One study by economist Richard J. Sullivan of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank cited in their piece...
  • August 15, 2014
    Is $20 Billion the New $10 Billion? The retail banking industry is very familiar with banks taking steps not to pass the $10 billion asset mark in order to avoid the associated massive regulatory and compliance costs. Consider Cathy Nash who sold Citizens Republic Bancorp when it reached $9.7 billion in assets to FirstMerit in 2012. Now there is another reason – the cut in interchange fees. The...
  • August 8, 2014
    Our thoughts and prayers are with our friends in the Aloha State as they prepare for impending hurricanes. Fed Releases Senior Loan Officer Survey The U.S. Federal Reserve this week released its July 2014 Senior Loan Officer Survey , which is comprised of respondents from up to 80 large domestic banks and 24 U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks. The survey found about 40 percent of large...
  • August 1, 2014
    CBA Testifies Before Senate Banking Committee This week, I testified before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on the state of the private student loan industry and campus financial products. This was an opportunity to demonstrate the excellent performance and repayment metrics of private student loans. Compared with federal loans, which have a 15% default rate, private loans are getting it right...
  • July 18, 2014
    CFPB Proposes Publishing Unverified Consumer Complaint Narratives The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed publishing unverified complaint narratives from unidentified consumers in their Consumer Complaint Portal. Publishing narratives of every unverified complaint will give only the illusion of disclosure. Banks have an obligation to their customers to maintain the confidentiality...
  • July 11, 2014
    Communications Working Group Launches CBA’s media relations team has been working with our member banks corporate communications teams to provide an edge on the issues and news coming out of our nation’s capital. On Wednesday, July 9, 2014, we held the first quarterly call of a new working group, open to all of our members. The call featured an update on what to expect from regulators and Capitol...
  • June 27, 2014
    CBA/AOL Finance Optimism Index Increases Slightly for May The CBA/AOL monthly Finance Optimism Index has found Americans’ finance optimism improved slightly in May to -4.0. This is an improvement of +0.8 from April. Perceptions around personal financial future and consumer’s current financial situations remained relatively steady. The largest change in this month’s findings came from consumers...
  • June 27, 2014
    CBA/AOL Finance Optimism Index Increases Slightly for May The CBA/AOL monthly Finance Optimism Index has found Americans’ finance optimism improved slightly in May to -4.0. This is an improvement of +0.8 from April. Perceptions around personal financial future and consumer’s current financial situations remained relatively steady. The largest change in this month’s findings came from consumers...
  • June 20, 2014
    Whistleblower Sheds Light on CFPB Issues On Wednesday June 18, 2014, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing entitled: “Allegations of Discrimination and Retaliation within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Part Three.” While this hearing mainly focused on whistleblowers’ allegations of employment discrimination at the CFPB, testimony by Mr...

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