CBA Statement on Sen. Brown Letter Requesting President Obama Fund Small-Dollar Loan Programs

January 6, 2016

 

Washington, D.C. (January 6, 2016) – Richard Hunt, President and CEO of the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA), released the following statement in response to Senator Sherrod Brown’s letter to President Obama asking him to fund small-dollar loan programs:

“We welcome Senator Sherrod Brown’s recognition that low- and moderate-income American families often need access to short-term liquidity.  Here is the problem: our own government, namely the OCC and FDIC, essentially eliminated a very popular and widely used bank product which helped many of these working families make ends meet.  The result has been extremely costly to consumers who now pay much higher interest rates through the payday and other nonbank industries.  We continue to support sound initiatives which help consumers gain access to credit as they strive to achieve their financial dreams,” said CBA’s President and CEO Richard Hunt.