Our latest white paper is now available. This month’s white paper takes a deeper look into debt settlement companies. Debt settlement companies promise to reduce consumer debt significantly, but they charge high fees and may not disclose that creditors are not obligated to cooperate. With the rise in non-housing consumer debt in the U.S., they’ve become an attractive alternative to […]

It was good to see new Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), move quickly to get the chamber refocused on taking up the peoples’ business. While the past several weeks created some uncertainty, it also focused attention on perhaps the most crucial domestic policy agenda in front of our nation and […]

This week, AFSA commented on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Summer 2023 Supervisory Highlights. This CFPB report shares its perspective on certain practices, including new or updated areas of focus in supervisory reviews. However, using the Highlights to paint with broad brushstrokes specific actions as unfair or deceptive can be dangerous, especially when the CFPB […]

The consumer credit market received early good tidings last week with the National Retail Federation’s holiday spending outlook. Based on a survey of more than 8,000 consumers, it found that the more than 90 percent of American adults planning to celebrate the upcoming winter holidays expect to spend an average $875 dollars in the process. […]

This past week, AFSA’s State Government Affairs team sent a letter to the Pennsylvania House Commerce Committee expressing support for HB 1580. This bill would permit specific personnel from licensed sales finance companies to engage in remote work. Facilitating remote work will benefit all parties involved, offering license holders greater flexibility in their staffing policies […]

Cox Automotive reported that auto loan performance remained a mixed bag in September. Delinquency rates continued to rise but are not translating to higher defaults rates. The share of loans delinquent for 60 or more days increased for the fifth month in a row in September and was up sharply on a year-over-year basis. Moreover, […]

AFSA’s State Government Affairs’ latest white paper is now available. This month’s white paper delves into top consumer complaints reported by states. Consumer complaint information can serve as a valuable resource for financial institutions aiming to enhance their operational methods and spot practices that could soon become subject to further regulatory oversight. Yet, gaining a […]

October 19, 2023 at 2:00pm EST U.S. auto originations are largely trending down – 9.4% YoY decline – according to the TransUnion Q2 Credit Industry Insights Report. The rejection rate for auto loans rose to 14.2% in June 2023 from 9.1% in February of this year according to Federal Reserve. The problem is being fueled […]

Yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an advisory on what it calls “junk fees.” AFSA has long been engaged on this issue and has argued that the pejorative term “junk fees,” while sure to get headlines, fundamentally misunderstands how the consumer credit market operates and in many cases mis-portrays to consumers and the […]

In this edition of the AFSA Extra Credit Podcast, we chat with Lena Bourgeois, SVP & General Manager of Automotive & Insurance with Equifax about alternative data. It’s a term that gets thrown around a lot but Lena gives us the download on what it is, what it can do for your business and most […]