CRL in the News

Ellen Harnick, executive vice president of the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit that works to end abusive financial practices, said the payday industry hires high-priced, experienced lobbyists who ingratiate themselves with state and federal lawmakers through campaign contributions, dinner invitations and casual meetings while roaming the halls of power. The access gives them opportunities to argue that high-cost loans...

That makes MoneyLion one of the “more expensive options in this market,” according to Center for Responsible Lending Senior Policy Counsel Andrew Kushner. Considering the products are geared toward cash-strapped people who need money now, Kushner said most users end up paying the fees. These apps create a “cycle of borrowing” as financially vulnerable users try to keep up with...

Los bancos más grandes del país no podrán cobrar más de $5 dólares por un sobregiro, según una nueva regla federal. Significa un ahorro de miles de millones de dólares para los consumidores. Le contamos más en Telemundo 47 Responde.

Nadine Chabrier, senior policy and litigation counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending, responded that banks can continue offering overdraft protection as a form of credit, but they’ll have to comply with the same rules that apply to other types of credit. According to Chabrier, the new rule keeps pace with the change in overdraft protection as paper checks have...

Yasmin Farahi and Lucia Constantine from the Center for Responsible Lending discuss the promises and perils of Earned Wage Access programs. Discover how these fintech products operate, the financial traps they can create, and the regulatory debates shaping their future.

“Unfortunately, this [loan] comes with terms that place a crushing burden on the university's future, a burden that is simply unsustainable,” said Jaylon Herbin with the Center for Responsible Lending.

Many Americans continue to find it challenging to keep up with the rising cost of living. Despite economic reports attesting to a growing broad economy, the majority of Americans’ household finances feel insecure – especially people who live paycheck to paycheck with little or no savings.

In Minnesota, two-thirds of users of the apps — known in the industry as “earned wage access” apps — experienced increased overdraft fees after borrowing money. The average user overdrafted their bank account more than 9 times in the three months after their initial payout, according to the analysis by the Center for Responsible Lending. Rather than charging exorbitant interest...

Popular apps that provide cash advances for working people are trapping Minnesotans in a cycle of borrowing and repayment and increasing the rate of bank overdraft fees, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsible Lending.

“Earned wage access, or earned wage advance, is a marketing term for a loan,” said Monica Burks, a policy council at the Center for Responsible Lending. Burks said fees to get instant cash can be sky-high when expressed as an APR and that apps can trap workers in a pattern of repeat use.