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Bank CEOs are urged to make good on promises to close racial wealth disparities
A hundred advocacy groups submitted letters to more than 40 bank CEOs urging them to make good on comments made to close racial wealth disparities and invest in traditionally underserved communities following the widespread racial justice protests of 2020.

More than 50 organizations support the Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act
In a letter to lawmakers, 52 organizations urged active support for the Tax on Wall Street Speculation Act of 2023, sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). By enacting a very small tax on the sales of Wall Street trades, the U.S. could begin to address income inequality and ensure Wall Street and the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.

FDIC should downgrade FinWise Bank over predatory ‘rent-a-bank’ lending
A coalition of consumer advocacy organizations submitted a letter to the FDIC urging the agency to downgrade FinWise Bank’s Community Reinvestment Act rating in light of the bank’s providing assistance to several nonbank lenders that enables them to make high-cost predatory loans they could not make directly.

Regulation urged to rein in excessive overdraft fees
A dozen advocacy organizations joined the Center for Responsible Lending in urging the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to require that OCC-supervised banks reform their predatory overdraft fee programs.

Groups push for reforms that make Community Reinvestment Act race- and climate-conscious
In a letter to the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve System board of governors and the FDIC assistant executive secretary, Consumer Action and 25 other organizations urged key changes to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) under a proposed update. Among other things, the organizations want the CRA to adopt a race-conscious approach, strengthen CRA exams, increase community engagement, and address climate change and housing displacement.

Addressing abusive overdraft fees would greatly benefit the most vulnerable consumers
Nearly a hundred state and local organizations, in a letter to the House Financial Services Committee, voiced their support for the Overdraft Protection Act of 2021 (HR 4277). The legislation would address the most abusive provisions of typical overdraft coverage—bank practices that have a particularly devastating effect on lower-income consumers and communities of color.

Needed reform for overdraft fees
Nearly a hundred state and local organizations, in a letter to the House Financial Services Committee, voiced their support for the Overdraft Protection Act of 2021 (HR 4277). The legislation would address the most abusive provisions of typical overdraft coverage—bank practices that have a particularly devastating effect on lower-income consumers and communities of color.

“Buy Now, Pay Later” is not always the best deal for consumers
Consumer Action joined public interest organizations in submitting a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) concerning Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) credit products. The groups are alarmed by the lack of regulation of this credit product, which is exploding in use, and they urged the CFPB to view BNPL products as credit cards (which are covered by the Truth in Lending Act [TILA]), to start supervision of this market, and to look out for practices that harm consumers.

Stronger CRA rules still needed to ensure equal access to credit
With a new proposal imminent from federal bank regulators, community, civil rights and consumer advocacy groups stress the urgency of updating the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The CRA is a civil rights era law meant to end and reverse the impact of 20th century redlining by requiring banks to lend in all communities where they are chartered to do business. Critical changes to both the process and metrics of CRA exams that evaluate lender performance, as well as updates to how digital banks are assessed, are needed to ensure that communities of color have equal access to credit to buy homes or build and grow businesses.

The system is broken: It’s time for income-driven repayment reform
A group of 104 diverse advocacy organizations sent a letter to the Biden administration, calling on U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to reform broken, dysfunctional income-driven repayment (IDR) programs with the creation of an IDR restoration project or waiver. While student loan cancellation under IDR has been possible since 2016, just 32 borrowers have ever successfully had their loans cancelled. At the same time, over 4.4 million borrowers have been in repayment for 20 years or longer, despite theoretically being able to access forgiveness via IDR.