Richard's Rapid Fire - October 21, 2016

Time to Revamp the CFPB Structure

Last week, a federal court decided a sitting president could immediately remove a CFPB director on a whim. This decision is concerning as it subjects the Bureau to political pressures by placing its directorship under the thumbprint of the president. In response, I penned an op-ed in USA Today calling for a five-person, bipartisan commission at the CFPB. With jurisdiction over 15,000 institutions and whose decisions impact millions of consumers every day, now is the time for Congress to act to ensure the CFPB remains a strong, stable and effective regulator for generations to come.

You may read my op-ed here.

 

Save the Date: Post-Election Day Membership Webinar

Can you believe we’re only 18 days away from Election Day? Be sure to mark your calendar: CBA will hold a members-only webinar on November 9, 2016 at 3:30 P.M. EST to talk about what the election results mean for retail banking. Stay tuned for more details!

 

CBA Presses FCC to Think of Consumers Ahead of TCPA Decision

Oral arguments began this week in CBA’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) case against the FCC this week. By imposing unworkable standards in its 2015 TCPA Omnibus Order, the FCC effectively severed the lines of communication between a consumer and their bank. At a time when the world has become increasingly mobile thanks to innovative technologies, it is astounding the FCC did not take into account how its Order will prevent the flow of critical and time-sensitive financial information.

Communication channels in the 21st century, which consumers use every day, should not be directed by a law enacted more than two decades ago and well before iPhones or text messages existed. CBA looks forward to the Court’s decision, and, in the meantime, will continue to advocate on behalf of consumers and their bank.

CBA has produced two fact sheets on TCPA which you may view below:

CBA TCPA One-Pager

CBA TCPA Q&A

 

Great News: More Americans Have Bank Accounts

This week, the FDIC released its annual National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households for 2015. The survey found Americans without access to a bank account fell to 7% in 2015, down from 7.7% in 2013. CBA has long believed consumers should have the opportunity to access banking services, and the increasing number of Americans taking advantage of the financial benefits banks offer is great news.  Many of CBA’s member banks continue to offer alternative accounts which enable countless consumers to bank within the well-regulated banking system. 

You may view a deeper analysis of the FDIC’s survey here.

 

CFPB Student Loan Ombudsman: Federal Student Loan Program has Failed Students

I agree with CFPB Student Loan Ombudsman Seth Frotman - the federal government has a serious problem on its hands as too many federal student loan borrowers are failing to repay their loans.  With 41 million Americans owing nearly $1.2 trillion in federal student loan debt and more than 1 million Americans defaulting on these loans annually, the federal government’s student loan program has wreaked havoc on student loan borrowers. With 98 percent of private student loans being successfully repaid, the federal government should learn from the private student loan market which responsibly underwrites its loans and provides borrowers with transparent loan terms.

 

Bank Earnings Surpass Expectations

Opening bank earnings season, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America released their Q3 earnings reports. Surpassing expectations, JP Morgan posted earnings of $1.58 per share compared to its expected earnings of $1.38 per share; Citi posted earnings of $1.24 per share compared to its expected earnings of $1.15 per share; Wells Fargo posted earnings of $1.05 per share compared to its expected earnings of $1.01 per share; and Bank of America posted earnings of 41 cents per share compared to its expected earnings of 34 cents per share. We look forward to seeing the rest of our banks’ earnings reports come out in the coming days.

 

My Keynote Address at K&L Gates

This week, I delivered a keynote speech at K&L Gates’ Consumer Financial Services Symposium in Washington, D.C. on the state of retail banking. Thank you Dan Crowley of K&L Gates for inviting me, and I look forward to seeing everyone again soon!

CBA's Richard Hunt speaking before a group of industry representatives at K&L Gates’ Consumer Financial Services Symposium in Washington, D.C.

 

Always Great to See our Membership!

Great to see so many CBA members in Washington, D.C. this week! We always enjoy hosting our committees, and it was a pleasure having our Community Reinvestment Committee, Fair and Responsible Banking Committee and Internal Audit Working Group in town to discuss our goals for the upcoming year. We’ll have the welcome crew ready to go next week when our Small Business Committee comes to town.

Thank you to those who attended our Community Reinvestment Committee meeting, including Jan Bergeson of Ally, Patricia Sampson of American Express, Scott Fujii of Bank of Hawaii, Britt Faircloth of Bank of North Carolina, Camino Smith of Banner Bank, Sharon Jeffries Jones of BB&T, Chris McGillis of BBVA, Sue Witson of BMO Harris, Jim Matthews of Capital One, Doug Craycraft of Chase, Lloyd Brown of Citi, Reza Aghamirzadeh of Citizens, Jennifer Creger of Crescent Bank and Trust, Ruth Owen of EverBank, Paul Vicente of Fifth Third, Donna Normandin of Frost Bank, Beth Trotter of IBERIABANK, Norman Bliss of KeyBank, Bobbie Salgado, Jan Woolsey and Julius Robinson of MUFG Union, Amy Howcroft and Cathy Niederberger of PNC, Jon Davies of Regions, Gwen Robinson of Santander, Barbara Gagne of TD Bank, Joseph Hernandez of TIAA, Yvonne Blumenthal of U.S. Bank, Angelia Allen of USAA, Lori-Anne Lawton of Webster, and Doug Schaeffer and Ronna Cottom of Woodforest.

Thank you to those who attended our Fair and Responsible Banking Committee meeting, including Greg Lutz of Ally Bank, Brad Blower of American Express, Britt Faircloth of Bank of North Carolina, John Giem of Banner Bank, Jeff Jaffee of Bank of the West, Ruthann Redmon of BBVA, Cynthia Mufarreh of BMO Harris, Mark Schultz of Capital One, Ron Spann of Chase, Ken Scott of Citi, Jennifer Creger of Crescent Bank & Trust, Karen Barnes of Discover, Mark Brown of Five Star, Jim Riley of HSBC, Staci Glenn Short and Jill Wurzburg of Huntington, Ron Johnson of KeyBank, Rick Jachimiak of M&T Bank, Diana DiPronio of MUFG Union, Gary Washington of PNC, Cecil Williams of Regions, Martin Ricks of Synchrony, Christina Speh of TD Bank, Sean McGuire of TCF and Nicholas Roesler of U.S. Bank. Karin Lockovitch of Zions Bancorp also attended as a guest.

Thank you to those who attended the third in person meeting of CBA’s Internal Audit Working Group, including Jonathan Bruner of Ally, Jessica Rodgers of American Express, Michelle Winter of BB&T, Andy Tynan of EverBank, Joe Sullivan of M&T, Kate Shumar of PNC, Jim Madias of Synchrony, Christine Clifford of U.S. Bank, Steve Hizak of United, Kara Williams of Webster, Mark Weintraub of Wells Fargo Dan VanSciver of Sallie Mae.

Thank you to Theresa Stark of the Federal Reserve, Patience Singleton of the FDIC, Bobbie Kennedy of the OCC, and Tim Burniston and Barbara Boccia of Wolters Kluwer for meeting with our Community Reinvestment Committee. Thank you to Jon Seward of the DOJ and Sarah Davies and Nick Rose of VantageScore Solutions for speaking with our Fair and Responsible Banking Committee. Thank you to Maria B. Earley of Reed Smith, and Lyn Farrell and Scott Fisher of Treliant Risk Advisors for speaking to our Internal Audit Working Group.

A special thank you to Wolters Kluwer for sponsoring our Community Reinvestment Committee and VantageScore Solutions for sponsoring our Fair & Responsible Banking Committee.

Doug Schaeffer of Woodforest National Bank and Scott Fujii of Bank of Hawaii enjoying their first Community Reinvestment Committee in-person meeting in Washington, D.C. It also was Scott's first trip to our nation's capital!

 

CBA's Richard Hunt addressing our Fair & Responsible Banking Committee at their in-person meeting in Washington, D.C.

 

Maria Earley of Reed Smith, LLP stopped by CBA HQ this week to speak with our Internal Audit Working Group.

Three Things to Know to Be In the Know

Companies Try Out Selfies as Password Alternatives

Keep Swiping: Credit Cards Still Growing in Popularity — Survey

Student loans diverted to clothing, phone, survey finds

 

Lagniappe

Judy Steiner was hired as vice president and chief risk officer at Banner Bank. Judy previously worked at FirstMerit.

Alfred Kelly was named CEO of Visa. Alfred previously served as a member of Visa’s board and as president of American Express

Heather Russell was hired to head BuckleySandler’s financial institutions regulation, supervision and technology practice.

Former CBA Board Member Maria Coyne was named president and chief executive of the cornerstone fund. Maria previously served as executive vice president at KeyCorp.

John Davidson has retired as chief compliance officer at Citi.

Best Wishes to Jan Woosley, who will retire from MUFG Union Bank early next year. Jan is an invaluable member of the CBA family and is a past Community Reinvestment Committee chair.

CBA OnSite traveled to Chicago this week to teach MarketSim to an eager class of Harland Clarke students.

CBA's Sam Whitfield visiting with Hancock Whitney leadership in Mississippi.