On one of our latest episodes of the AFSA Extra Credit Podcast, Celia Winslow, President and CEO of AFSA sits down with the oldest and youngest generation of the family business at 1st Franklin Financial. While both go by Ben Cheek, one is a recent graduate of Auburn University and the newest generation of Cheek serving as […]

Last week, AFSA’s SGA team attended the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR) Conference in Bellevue, Washington. The team participates in this conference each year to track emerging mortgage policy and regulatory developments, while also building and strengthening relationships with state regulators. These connections are particularly valuable because many of these regulators also oversee […]

August 20, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. ET Consumer lenders closely monitor the cost of accepting payments, often focusing on transaction fees and processor invoices. But what if those costs represent only a small fraction of what it actually takes to get paid? New research from PayNearMe introducing the Payment Experience Gap found that transaction fees […]