A direct solicitation from The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says they want to hear from you for the official record! Meaning, payday advance customers! Here’s what Zixta Martinez said in her March 23 blogpost:

Public input is tremendously important to our work at the CFPB. At our January field hearing in Birmingham, we had the opportunity to gather information directly from Alabamans about their experiences with payday loans.

We’d also like to hear from you. The CFPB is inviting public comments for the record. Please take this opportunity to share your thoughts and insights.

Your official comments will help inform how the CFPB works to protect consumers and create a fairer short-term credit marketplace. And to make it easier, you can do it online! Click here to tell the CFPB why a payday advance is an important financial option for you.

You can also watch CFPB Director Cordray’s opening remarks from Birmingham below, or read the transcript of the entire event, including what the Bureau heard from the public.

 

Tomorrow, CFPB Director Richard Cordray will be testifying before the House Financial Services Committee where he is expected to deliver the Bureau’s Semi-Annual Report.  Just a teaser from his prepared testimony on the Bureau’s perspective on financial institutions being “straightforward and upfront with their customers”:

“So another key objective is making sure that both banks and their nonbank competitors receive the evenhanded oversight necessary to promote a fair and open marketplace. Our supervisors will be going on-site to examine their books, ask tough questions, and fix the problems we uncover. Under the laws enacted by Congress, and with a director now in place, we have the ability to make sure this is true across all financial products and services.”

The CFPB is at the campus of Hunter College in New York City, where Richard Cordray, Raj Date, industry insiders, and consumer advocates are discussing customer experiences with checking accounts and overdraft protection.

You can either watch it by going to the CFPB’s website, by clicking here. Or watch it below:

 


Live video for mobile from Ustream

Quote of the day (from yesterday’s hearing) came from none other than Ted Saunders, member of CFSA’s Board of Directors and also CEO of Community Choice Financial:

“My customer is not uninformed, my customer is not unintelligent and I respectfully disagree that closing me down and letting alternatives flourish would be a good solution”

CFPB Director Richard Cordray’s remarks from yesterday’s field hearing have now been posted onto the #CFPB website. Click here to access the transcript.

A few highlights:

• “… Let me stress again that this is a field hearing. We came here to listen, to learn, and to gather information on the ground that will help inform our approach to these issues. We are thinking hard about these issues, and we do not have all the answers worked out by any means.”
• “Whatever their reasons may be for taking out a payday loan, Americans are now borrowing billions of dollars this way. Lenders collect over $7 billion in fees annually.”
• “… And so I want to be clear about one thing: We recognize the need for emergency credit. At the same time, it is important that these products actually help consumers, rather than harm them.”
• “In addition to the things we need to learn more about, we know there are some payday lenders engaged in practices that present immediate risk to consumers and are clearly illegal. While we need to learn more about the prevalence of this conduct and what allows it to fester, where we find these practices we will take immediate steps to eliminate them.”

Today at the CFPB’s field hearing on payday lending, the Bureau announced the publication of its Short-Term, Small-Dollar Lending Procedures – a field guide CFPB examiners will use to make sure payday lenders – banks and nonbanks – are following federal consumer financial laws.

“We recognize the need for emergency credit. At the same time, it is important that these products actually help consumers, rather than harm them,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray in his opening remarks at today’s field hearing. “Now, the Bureau will be giving payday lenders much more attention.”

Here’s an excerpt from the Bureau’s announcement:

With the establishment of the CFPB, a federal agency for the first time can supervise not only bank payday lenders but also all nonbank payday lenders. Specifically, the Short-Term, Small Dollar Lending Procedures describe the types of information that the agency’s examiners will gather to evaluate payday lenders’ policies and procedures, assess whether lenders are in compliance with federal consumer financial  laws, and identify risks to consumers throughout the lending process.  The procedures track key payday lending activities, from initial advertisements and marketing to collection practices.

The CFPB will be implementing its payday lending supervision program based on its assessment of risks to consumers, including consideration of factors such as the volume of business and the extent of state oversight.  The CFPB also will be coordinating with federal and state partners to maximize supervisory capability and minimize regulatory burden.  If a violation of a federal consumer financial law has occurred, the CFPB will determine whether supervisory or enforcement actions are appropriate.

In general, CFPB supervision will include gathering reports from and conducting examinations of bank and nonbank activities.  The examination process will begin with scoping, review of information, and data analysis followed by onsite examinations.  The CFPB will be in regular communication with supervised entities, and it will conduct follow-up monitoring.

To download the Manual, click here.

Don’t worry, we’ve been tweeting live from Birmingham. Go to twitter.com/paydaypundit and follow us! And see our reposts on #Facebook! We even threw in some pictures so you can really see what was going on.

Tomorrow at noon, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will be putting on its first field hearing in Birmingham, AL. Tomorrow’s hearing will include testimony from two members of CFSA’s Board of Directors and other industry representatives, customers, and members of the public – all who will provide the CFPB with on-the-ground insight into the payday lending market.

Stay tuned in with us by following us @paydaypundit and watching for #CFPBPaydayHearinginAL

WHEN

Thursday, January 19, 2012
12:00 p.m. CST/ 1:00 p.m. EST

WHERE

*New location
Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex
East Ballroom A
2100 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. North
Birmingham, AL 35203

SCHEDULE

12:00 p.m.
Opening Remarks
Joyce White Vance, U.S. Attorney
U.S. Representative Terri Sewell
Richard Cordray, Director of the CFPB

12:20 p.m.
Expert Testimony
CFPB Staff Participants
Raj Date, Deputy Director of the CFPB (Chair)
Patrice Ficklin, Assistant Director for the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity
Gail Hillebrand, Associate Director for Consumer Education & Engagement
Peggy Twohig, Assistant Director for the Office of Nonbank Supervision

12:20 p.m.
Panel 1: Consumer Experience with Payday Loans
Shay Farley, Legal Director, Alabama Appleseed
Marcella Roberts, CEO, Building Alabama Reinvestment
Stephen Stetson, Policy Analyst, Alabama Arise
Shirley Worthington, VP of Community Initiatives, United Way of Central Alabama

1:00 p.m.
Panel 2: Industry Perspective on Payday Loans
Kim Gardner, Cash USA
Daryl McMinn, Chief Operations Officer, Listerhill Credit Union
John Owen, Senior Executive Vice President, Head of Consumer Bank, Regions Financial Corp.
Ted Saunders, CEO, Community Choice Financial, Inc.

1:40 p.m.
Public Testimony