Payday Industry Honcho: We’re Less Popular Than Equifax!
Top Industry Trade Group Leader Thinks the Odds Are Against Congressional Republicans Repealing the CFPB’s New Payday Lending Rule
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) release of its new rule reigning in the worst abuses of payday, car title, and other short-term loans, the leader of the payday lending industry’s primary special interest trade group admitted yesterday that payday lenders are less popular than Equifax, the credit reporting giant embroiled in a data breach controversy that has endangered the already struggling congressional repeal effort on the CFPB’s arbitration rule. As Politico reported:
“Despite their fierce campaign against the rule, it’s not certain small-dollar lenders will be able to rally Congress to block it. Republican lawmakers have yet to muster votes to overturn a CFPB ban on mandatory arbitration, a regulation that affected a much larger segment of the business community.
‘If arbitration has a difficult time, we envision we would have a more difficult time,’ [Dennis Shaul of Community Financial Services Association] said. ‘Our options are to continue influencing opinion at the bureau. We don’t give up all hope. And we are seriously considering our legal rights.’”
This isn’t the first time Shaul has offered a moment of candor. Last year he told NPR, “I grant you that there are cases even among our lenders, who I think represent the cream of the crop, where the [interest] rate is too excessive.”
Regardless of Shaul’s comments, Allied Progress expects industry to pull out all the stops in an attempt to repeal the CFPB’s important new payday lending rule. The organization is committed to the fight to defend the rule and protect millions of Americans from predatory payday lenders.
More Information About Dennis Shaul
More Information About Shaul’s CFSA
To speak with Karl Frisch about the CFPB’s payday lending rule, please contact Annette McDermott at 202-697-4804 or annette@alliedprogress.org.
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