On The Web

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Providers

‘Rent-a-Banks’ Defy States’ Growing Efforts to Curb High-Cost Lending

March 11 2020

“OppLoans and its partner FinWise Bank are in what is called a rent-a-bank partnership, which allows high-cost lenders to skirt interest-rate caps in dozens of states. Rent-a-bank arrangements are the focus of a fierce battle pitting state regulators and consumer advocates against the credit industry.”

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Regulation

Budget 2020: Chancellor Set to Protect Access to Cash Under New Laws

March 9 2020

• in
• Cash

“The chancellor is set to commit to new laws to protect the future of cash in next week’s budget, which comes as bank branches and free-to-use ATMs are disappearing from the high street. Rishi Sunak’s measures will aim to ensure people who rely on cash, including vulnerable groups and local communities across the UK, can […]

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Regulation

Central Banks Urge G20 to Back Cheaper Payments `roadmap’

March 2 2020

“The BIS wants Group of Twenty (G20) leaders to get behind the plan, which is being drawn up regulators, central banks and treasury officials from across the world and will lay out steps to improve a payments system hindered by high costs. Political will is needed to create conditions for cheaper cross-border payments that are […]

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Regulation

Leaked Document Shows How Big Companies Buy Credit Card Data on Millions of Americans

February 20 2020

• in
• Privacy regulation

“Yodlee, the largest financial data broker in the U.S., sells data pulled from the bank and credit card transactions of tens of millions of Americans to investment and research firms, detailing where and when people shopped and how much they spent. The company claims that the data is anonymous, but a confidential Yodlee document obtained […]

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Regulation

Fed’s View on the Digitalization of B2B Payments and Digital Currency

March 18 2020

• in
• Cryptocurrencies

…This all comes with the knowledge that banks are subject to regulatory oversight, (i.e., they are safe) and payment card networks promise to not make cardholders pay for fraud as long as they get the right to charge usury interest to cardholders. That’s the implicit arrangement they make with the Fed. But as non-banks make […]

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Regulation

UK Raises Contactless Transaction Limit by 50%

March 24 2020

“The spending limit for contactless card payments in the UK is being increased from £30 (US$35.33) to £45 (US$52.99), UK Finance has announced. The new spending limit will begin to roll out from 1 April 2020. “The changes were already under consideration by the industry, but the process has been expedited as part of the […]

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Regulation

Coronavirus Stimulus Payments: When Will They Be Sent and Who Is Eligible?

March 27 2020

“The plan provides $1,200 for each adult and $500 for each child under 17. A married couple with two children would get $3,400. Most people will receive the money in a payment from the Internal Revenue Service soon.”

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Regulation

Banks Urged to Issue More Small-Dollar Loans in Response to Outbreak

March 26 2020

“Banks should re-enter the business of offering short-term, small-dollar loans to cash strapped-customers in light of the outbreak of the coronavirus , a group of regulators said on Thursday. The move, announced in a joint statement of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and a group of other regulators, marks an effort to revive a riskier […]

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Global

Russian Prime Minister Introduces Bill to Allow Fintech Sandboxes, Blockchain Included

March 25 2020

• in
• Russia

“Introduced in a new bill on March 17 by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, the plan does not directly mention blockchain or cryptocurrencies, but an explanatory note mentions distributed ledger as one of the technologies that could be explored in the new “experimental regulatory regimes.”  Such regimes can be established to live-test the new technologies in […]

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Domains

Fed Preparing to Finance New Small-Business Payroll Loans

April 7 2020

• in
• Government Payments
• Income

“The Federal Reserve said Monday it would create a new program to finance loans that banks and other lenders make through the government’s emergency small-business lending program . The move will free up financial firms to make more loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration’s Payroll Protection Program, part of a $2.2 trillion economic relief […]