Status of things
July 29, 2009 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (2)After talking to a few lobbyists, here’s what I’ve learned about federal legislation.
The leadership of the House is considering whether to use the Consumer Finance Protection Agency legislation as a vehicle for all financial regulatory reform, including payday lending. Gutierrez postponed the markup of his bill because of these negotiations.
Senator Durbin, who has a rate cap bill, has been quiet, waiting to see what happens with the CFPA.
September will be an exciting month for the industry.
The $300 Taco Bell dinner
July 29, 2009 | alternatives, industry | Comments (0)No, fast food has not gone up in price. This consumer was the victim of overdraft charges. From the story:
Hickman says the expense resulted from delays in processing her child-support check at the Zanesville, Ohio, branch of Cleveland-based National City Bank. The 45-year-old customer- service representative said she uses a debit card more these days after canceling her credit cards because of high fees.
“I stopped using credit cards to keep me out of trouble and then got hit with overdraft fees,” Hickman said. “It’s not fair.”
Unintended consequences
July 29, 2009 | alternatives, federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)US News & World Report thinks the recently passed credit card law is already affecting consumers, but not in a good way:
The credit card companies have made several changes in response to these new restrictions. First, fixed rate cards are becoming a thing of the past. Major credit card issuers have moved to variable rate cards to help insulate their portfolio from interest rate risk. J.P. Morgan and Bank of America are just the latest examples of card issuers moving to variable rates. Second, interest rates on cards have gone up sharply, even while other rates have remained historically low. The increases have led Senator Schumer (D-NY) to ask the Federal Reserve to use its emergency powers to immediately limit rate increases.
Do lawmakers not understand that the goal of every business is to remain profitable?
The new agency will be better?
July 29, 2009 | alternatives, federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)I’m not surprised, but I’m a little discouraged that there’s not an honest debate about whether a new regulatory agency will be better that the current ones. From ConsumerAffairs.com:
“Based on their track record rather than promises, it’s very clear that the Federal Reserve has failed to address major consumer protections over a 20-year period,” Plunkett told us. “We need action as opposed to rhetoric. In about a dozen separate areas of consumer finance, the Federal Reserve has either not acted or acted much too late.
Last week, the Fed unveiled a series of proposed regulatory changes, designed to correct some of the most egregious problems in mortgage and home-equity lending. Plunkett suggested the action was intended to hold onto the Fed’s institutional authority.
Credit union “alternatives”
July 28, 2009 | Uncategorized, alternatives | Comments (0)PDLindustryblog has a thought.
Really bad sign of the times
July 28, 2009 | personal finance | Comments (0)Quality beer purchases are down. People are drinking the cheap stuff, though. From a Wall Street Journal blog:
Heineken sales sank 18% from the previous year in grocery, convenience and drug stores during the two-week period ended July 5, followed by Budweiser at 14%. Corona Extra sales dropped 11%, while Miller Lite declined 9% and Bud Light fell 7%. Coors Light sales held up better, falling less than 1% from a year ago.
Meanwhile, sales of “subpremium” beers including Busch, Natural Light and Keystone posted “substantial gains”, according to Ad Age, which didn’t provide the specifics.
I’ll do my part, if you’ll do yours. I’m ordering two Heinies tonight at dinner.
Balance
July 28, 2009 | personal finance | Comments (0)Apparently, that’s the key to a good marriage. From the story:
Surveys of married adults suggest that opposites attract when it comes to emotional reactions toward spending,” Wharton’s Scott Rick and Deborah Small and Northwestern’s Eli Finkel said in the paper.
They found that people who generally spend less than they would ideally like to spend, and those who spend more than they would like to tend to marry each other.
But, why?
….Those who find it painful to spend, for example, may dislike that characteristic in themselves, and so are attracted to people who are more liberal in their approach to money.
What’s not to fear?
July 28, 2009 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)The New Republic says those who are opposed to the Consumer Finance Protection Agency are scared. I agree, because we don’t know what this agency will do. Personally, I’m annoyed with elites who think that any regulation is good regulation.
If consumers don’t trust financial services–and why should they, given all we’ve seen?–this will be a long and painful recovery. Given what we know and have learned painfully about how our financial system operates, saying that “the market will provide consumer safety” is essentially the same thing as saying “the market will not provide”–you’re on your own, again.
Light blogging today
July 28, 2009 | Uncategorized | Comments (0)Not much payday lending news.
More great stories
July 28, 2009 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)From the Consumer Rights Coalition:
I am a disabled veteran and when my husband passed away and I wanted to move back home to AZ. I don’t know what I would have done if it weren’t for getting a small loan to help with the moving expenses and to get my truck ready. God bless the people that are there for us and shame on our government for trying to take that choice away from us.
