The American Financial Services Association is – in a single event – bringing together the best of the Annual Meeting and Independents Conference & Expo. Join the leaders of the consumer credit industry at AFSA’s s premier consumer credit conference and exposition hall. The 2020 Annual Meeting & Independents Conference & Expo offers both an expansive view of the consumer credit industry, while drilling down on areas specific to vehicle finance lenders, traditional installment storefronts, or industry vendors

The American Financial Services Association yesterday submitted a letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) supporting the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The letter highlighted AFSA members’ commitment to the well-being of our armed services, veterans and their families, noting the strong support by AFSA members for the goals of both the Military Lending and Servicemembers Civil Relief Acts. The laws offer protections for service members and their families to ensure those defending our nation can focus on the mission at hand.To that end, the letter applauds Senator Inhofe for the committee’s rejection of an amendment that limited arbitration options or class action waivers. “Such limitations would ultimately lead to costly, time-consuming, and adversarial litigation for service members and veterans that only serves to enrich the class action plaintiffs’ bar," wrote Ann Harter, Vice President of Congressional Affairs at AFSA. “Service members and veterans deserve the option to settle disputes through arbitration, a more expedient process where data shows that they would experience greater payouts. The courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have recognized arbitration as a fair and effective mode of settling disputes, and servicemembers deserve the option for quick and effective justice.”

AFSA's July State Government Affairs white paper is now available. This month's white paper covers 2019 consumer complaint data from state Attorney General offices, the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Consumer complaints inform the cases state attorneys general pursue and may drive the legislation an AG's office advocates for. Understanding emerging trends in complaints can help institutions anticipate, respond to, and potentially avoid problems with consumers, attorneys general, and lawmakers. The paper is available to AFSA members under the State Resources section of AFSA’s website.

July's featured Business Partner is RSM US LLP.

The American Financial Services Association (AFSA) reiterated its support for industrial banks in a comment letter this week to the FDIC. The FDIC’s proposed industrial bank rule would require certain conditions and commitments for financial institutions seeking an industrial bank charter.

The Supreme Court today ruled in Selia Law v. CFPB that the structure of the CFPB violates the separation of powers. In an opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court held that, “the CFPB Director’s removal protection is severable from the other statutory provisions bearing on the CFPB’s authority.”

In this episode of the AFSA Extra Credit Podcast we talk with Mike Kaplan, CRO with PayNearMe. In mid-May, PNM unveiled a study entitled Consumer Bill Pay Trends During COVID-19. PayNearMe analyzed hundreds of thousands of bill payments made by U.S. consumers between March 1 and April 17 to explore the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having and may have over the long term. The insights are very interesting and some, surprising.

Join us on June 30 at 1:00 p.m. ET for Identity and Income Fraud in an Increasingly Digitized World, presented by AFSA.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued two notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRMs) to amend the Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage (ATR-QM) Rule. The first NPRM would extend the sunset date for a temporary category of qualified mortgages sometimes referred to as the temporary Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) qualified mortgage category or as the GSE Patch.

This week, AFSA submitted a comment letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in response to the agency’s request for comment regarding its guidance on advertising, referred to as the Endorsement Guides.