Banking

The National Consumer Law Center is claiming the Credit Data Industry Association wants to suppress Consumer Financial Protection Bureau complaint filings.

IMBs outperform banks, face outsized scrutiny, and confront rising affordability challenges, according to the President of the Community Home Lenders of America.

Tri-merge mandates prop up a credit bureau/FICO oligopoly, raising mortgage costs with little benefit despite risk concerns, the chairman of Whalen Global Advisors argues.

A Community Home Lenders of America adds arguments against use of single bureau while another paper takes the position that the idea merits further study.

The San Francisco-based banking giant reported solid gains in credit card and auto lending as credit remained in check and quarterly operating costs declined from a year ago.

The megabank's net income declined by 13% during the fourth quarter as a result of a $1.2 billion pretax loss on sale related to the divestiture of its remaining operations in Russia.

A housing official renewed his call for credit bureaus to address lenders' concerns. Low pull-through magnifies a cost that's small relative to others.

Last year highlighted the risks for banks in lending to nondepository financial institutions. A new approach by Trump-era regulators could change the playing field.

New Jersey-based OceanFirst Financial slid in its planned $579 million acquisition of Flushing Financial just before the end of the year. The private equity firm Warburg Pincus is also participating in the transaction.

As commissioner of Virginia's Bureau of Financial Institutions since 1997, Joe Face emphasized strengthening the dual banking system.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will face an existential crisis in 2026 between the Trump administration's efforts to shut down the agency and the employee union and consumer advocates who want to stop them.

The Massachusetts Democrat requested to see records related to second liens that banks were required to expunge per terms of the 2012 mortgage settlement.

The trade group's letter to FHFA Director Bill Pulte pointed out that lenders were facing credit report price hikes for four straight years.

Rohit Chopra is named senior advisor to the Democratic Attorneys General Association's working group on consumer protection and affordability; Flagstar Bank adds additional wealth-planning capabilities to its private banking division; Chime promotes three members of its executive leadership team; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

The rent reporting platform says it's helped tenants raise their credit scores by double digits and unlocked $30 billion more in mortgage lending.

Charlie Scharf has a mostly optimistic take on Wells' consumer banking prospects entering 2026. But he's more downbeat about the company's once-dominant residential mortgage business.

Overall performance is stable but inflation and unemployment have hurt newer borrowers in some cases, according to Transunion's 2026 consumer credit forecast.

The all-stock acquisition of Mountain Commerce Bancorp in Knoxville marks the Arkansas-based company's first M&A foray since 2022.

A bipartisan housing provision has emerged as a critical negotiating point for passage of an uncommonly bank-relevant defense authorization bill.

What developments around rent reporting and new credit standards portend for mortgage companies. Part 2 of a series on government-sponsored enterprise changes.