Yesterday’s announced settlement by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) with a well-known debt-settlement provider – along with several other recent actions by the CFPB and the FTC against debt-settlement firms – highlights not only the need to continue to protect financially vulnerable consumers, but also to reinforce the importance of consumer financial literacy.
AFSA supports the CFPB’s and FTC‘s efforts to protect consumers. Settlements like these highlight the real differences between the kind of predatory financial services firms that prey on financial insecurity, and credit counselors who work with consumers to get their financial lives back on track.
The settlement also highlights the ongoing need to expand efforts around financial literacy. The AFSA Educational Foundation’s MoneySKILL program has built a curriculum for to provide students of all ages with the fundamentals of money-management. Students at the elementary school level access grade-appropriate content in subject areas, such as income, expenses, saving and investing, credit, and insurance. The high school and college courses are designed to be integrated into coarse work on economics, business, math or personal finances. MoneySKILL curriculums are updated annually to keep current with the needs of students.
The goal of the foundation is to empower young people with the financial know-how so that they can be informed consumers who won’t have to deal with companies that are more focused on achieving their firm’s financial goals than those of their customers.
Yesterday’s announced settlement by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) with a well-known debt-settlement provider – along with several other recent actions by the CFPB and the FTC against debt-settlement firms… Read the rest
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on June 25 held the first in its evolving symposia series, dealing with the term “abusive” and if the Bureau should use its rulemaking authority to further define the term. The … Read the rest
Federal regulators started pushing large banks to offer small-dollar loans to customers as an alternative to payday loans last year. A Bloomberg BGov article yesterday quotes analysts and large banking institutions saying, essentially… Read the rest
Complaints about robocalls continue to rise, and occur seemingly anywhere, at any time. Members of Congress say they hear about the robocall problem in town hall events back in their districts. It’s no different at the regulatory agencies… Read the rest
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Office of Research has released a study on consumer credit card payment behavior. The study examines whether consumer pay off their balances monthly, retain a balance from one month to the… Read the rest
Join us July 25th at 2 p.m. ET for Opportunities in Used Vehicle Financing, presented by TransUnion.
Following years of rapid growth, waning demand for new vehicles coupled with an influx in off-lease vehicles is driving focus toward used … Read the rest
Following up on presentations made at AFSA’s May committee meetings, the AFSA Operations and Regulatory is creating the California Consumer Protection Act Working Group.
“The purpose of the group is to give AFSA members focused… Read the rest
AFSA submitted a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on June 30 in response to the commission’s hearings on competition and consumer protection in the 21st century. The letter lays out the necessity for a “single, federal,… Read the rest
Join us July 25th at 2 p.m. ET for Opportunities in Used Vehicle Financing, presented by TransUnion.
Following years of rapid growth, waning demand for new vehicles coupled with an influx in off-lease vehicles is driving focus toward used … Read the rest
AFSA members in Florida scored a big win thanks to a coalition including Sonya Deen of JM Family, AFSA’s State Government Affairs team, and numerous AFSA members. The law, which goes into effect on January 1st, 2020, will enable lienholders… Read the rest
