August’s Featured Business Partner is Flagstar Bank. We asked them a few questions about the value of AFSA membership and some of the opportunities or challenges they face in 2021. Learn more at flagstar.com. What are your financial services clients telling you are their biggest challenges and opportunities for 2021? I think the biggest challenge […]

AFSA President: Rate Caps Lead to Civil Rights Losses, Not Consumer Protection Victories WASHIINGTON, JULY 29, 2021 (View release in PDF) — Bill Himpler, President & CEO of the American Financial Services Association (AFSA) today testified before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee in a hearing entitled “Protecting Americans from Debt by Extending […]

On Thursday, July 29 2021, AFSA President & CEO Bill Himpler testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs in a hearing entitled “Protecting Americans from Debt by Extending the Military’s 36% Interest Rate Cap to Everyone.” You can also view the written testimony, with full sourcing and appendices. Prepared Testimony of […]

The 2021 AFSA Annual Meeting is bringing attendees to our nation’s capital to highlight how consumer credit is creating opportunities for our customers. Explore the evolving landscape of consumer credit – from global to local – and learn what to expect in the coming months. Interact  with our speakers, panelists, industry colleagues and policymakers. Participate  in thought-provoking roundtable discussions and Capitol […]

Join us on August 5 at 2:00 p.m. ET for New Data: Why Consumers Struggle Paying Bills, presented by PayNearMe. What makes paying bills so hard? While other payment experiences (such as ecommerce, P2P and subscriptions) are simplifying the process, bill pay continues to lag in customer experience and innovation continues to widen the gap […]

On July 22, Consumer Reports published an article focusing on the new anti-consumer, all-in rate cap that Illinois imposed on its consumers earlier this year.  The author reached out to AFSA, asking some common questions on rate cap legislation. AFSA’s Danielle Fagre Arlowe responded with clear, content-rich answers. As has become commonplace in the media, the article takes facts and figures to fit the narrative that they’ve decided they want to spin. Consumers are used to this […]

The House Financial Services Committee (FSC) held a hearing earlier this week entitled, “Banking the Unbanked: Exploring Private and Public Efforts to Expand Access to the Financial System,” to discuss trends in unbanked and underbanked households and proposals to expand the availability of safe and affordable banking and financial services. The FSC specifically examined the […]

This week, the House of Representatives passed the “Consumer Protection and Recovery Act” (H.R.2668) to give the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enhanced ability to bring enforcement actions against fraudsters and scammers and collect monetary relief for consumers harmed. Specifically, H.R. 2668 would amend Section 13(b) of the FTC Act to explicitly reaffirm the FTC’s authority […]

The recent 2021 “Report on the Military Lending Act and the Effects of High Interest Rates on Readiness” is public and makes the following statement: “The [Military Lending Act and Military Annual Percentage Rate] support Service members and families by ensuring they are not subject to unfair credit practices that can negatively impact financial readiness […]

This episode of the AFSA Extra Credit Podcast is the third edition of our 50-state series, where we’ll be asking questions of financial services regulators around the country. We’ll make our way through all 50 states getting to know the regulators that are part of our industry. Today, Danielle Fagre Arlowe, Senior Vice President and […]