The Pew Financial Security Portfolio, a part of the Pew Health Group, includes two projects engaged in research related to the consumer financial products and services markets discussed in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed rule on defining larger participants in certain markets. The Safe Small Dollar Loans Research Project develops research-based policy solutions to address predatory lending practices that stifle consumer access to transparent and safer forms of borrowing. The Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project is reviewing prepaid cards and other alternatives to traditional checking accounts with a focus on what new consumer safeguards may be appropriate.
The larger participant rule will delineate both the consumer financial markets in which the CFPB has supervisory authority and also which participants -- covered persons under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 -- are subject to this supervision. This presents an important opportunity for the CFPB to bring clarity to and level the supervisory playing field in markets for nondepository consumer products. Supervision will allow the CFPB to conduct examinations and gather information to monitor these markets and ensure compliance with federal consumer financial laws.
Based on work at the Pew Health Group on small dollar loans and checking accounts, the projects urge the CFPB to issue an initial rule broadly covering nondepository markets. Within these markets, coverage of individual participants under the larger participant rule should permit comprehensive supervision by the CFPB. The CFPB's supervisory authority must be broader than its rulemaking authority because examination of the market informs rulemaking needs.
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The Pew Health Group’s Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project investigated checking accounts offered by the ten largest U.S. banks, which held nearly 60 percent of the nation’s deposit volume.
View an interactive graphic presenting a state-by-state overview of Underbanked or Unbanked households.
More info"'Hidden or unexpected' fees are the No. 1 reason given by the working poor for closing bank accounts, a recent study found. The study by the Safe Banking Opportunities Project, a project of the Pew Health Group, surveyed 2,000 predominantly low-income, Hispanic households in the Los Angeles area in a two-phase study. Study participants were screened and recruited through a door-to-door, interviewer-administered survey."
More info"Hidden bank fees are pushing the working poor out of mainstream banking and into riskier, more expensive alternatives to managing their personal finances. A new study released by the Pew Charitable Trusts provides a stark snapshot of how banks’ embrace of sneaky fees hurt the most vulnerable consumers."
More infoLos "cargos ocultos o inesperados" fueron mencionados como la razón principal por la cual los trabajadores pobres del Gran Los Ángeles, aquellos que tienen empleo pero que incluso así permanecen en pobreza relativa, cerraron cuentas de banco el pasado año, por encima de razones como la pérdida del empleo o la falta de dinero, según una encuesta en hogares predominantemente hispanos y de bajos ingresos dada a conocer por el Safe Banking Opportunities Project (Proyecto Oportunidades para Banca Segura) del Pew Health Group.
More info“Hidden or unexpected fees” were cited as the number one reason Greater Los Angeles’ working poor – those who are employed yet remain in relative poverty– closed bank accounts in the past year, surpassing job loss or lack of money, according to a survey of predominately Hispanic, low-income households released by the Pew Health Group’s Safe Banking Opportunities Project.
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