Statement from Online Lenders Alliance Following House Committee on Financial Services Hearing

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Following today's House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) hearing titled, "Rent-A-Bank Schemes and New Debt Traps: Assessing Efforts to Evade State Consumer Protections and Interest Rate Caps," OLA CEO Mary Jackson issued the following statement:

"Today's hearing clearly demonstrates that many members of the House Financial Services Committee have more work to do when it comes to understanding the borrowers of these types of financial products, why consumers rely on them, and their overall satisfaction with them.

Bank-fintech partnerships lead to increased innovation and more competition in the marketplace, providing consumers with loans that satisfy their unique requirements. This competition has led to better financial products at lower costs, and these partnerships benefit both small banks and consumers.  These partnerships are operating within the bounds of federal law.  What is baffling is that the proposal of a national rate cap preempts 43 state consumer finance laws and that some witnesses complained that bank products can't preempt the state law, but they are okay with a national preemption. 

Consumers are satisfied with small dollar lending products, as evidenced by the fact that only one percent of all consumer complaints in the CFPB's consumer complaint database are related to these loans. 

We encourage the Committee to rethink this dangerous, restrictive policy proposal and focus on promoting policies that help consumers access the financial products they continue to demand."

About The Online Lenders Alliance
The Online Lenders Alliance (OLA) is the first trade association in Fintech. OLA is focused on credit inclusion, bringing together a diverse group of innovative companies who share a common goal: to serve hardworking Americans who deserve access to trustworthy credit. Our members are entrepreneurs, publicly traded companies, lenders, credit bureaus, advertisers, lead generators, compliance professionals, and software developers who are leveraging technology to responsibly improve consumers' financial health. Consumer protection is our top priority and OLA members abide by a rigorous set of Best Practices and Code of Conduct to ensure consumers are fully informed and fairly treated. For more information and to review our most recent policy white paper highlighting how innovation in the financial technology space is playing a role in driving credit inclusion for the approximately 100 million Americans who currently fall into the non-prime credit category, please visit www.onlinelendersalliance.org.

SOURCE Online Lenders Alliance