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ALTERNATIVE FINANCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS ASSOCIATION
September 12, 2019
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Average FICO score hits all-time high
When it comes to credit, Americans are scoring better than ever.
For the first time, the average national credit score has reached 706, according to FICO, the developer of one of the most commonly used scores by lenders.
FICO scores range from 300 to 850. A good score generally is above 700, and those over 760 are considered excellent.
That can make all the difference in the interest rate a consumer is going to pay for credit cards, car loans and mortgages - or whether they will get a loan at all.
"At over 700, you will qualify for just about any credit at favorable terms," said Ethan Dornhelm, vice president for scores and analytics at FICO.
Read more at CNBC
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Top "5 things" brick and mortar lenders should know before going online
Going Online?
One of the perennial discussions for many lenders with a branch network is how to go online. However, the critical question is whether brick and mortar lenders should go online? We meet with many brick and mortar lending executives and everyone tells us that their personal interaction with their clients is key to their success. Their stores are the love of their lives and their store employees are the engine that drives their machine.
And, not going online also doesn't mean that there's a lack of technology. Many storefront lenders offer employees a lot of technology in their stores to verify identity, scanning for documents and a store centric loan management and customer relationship system. It's a well-oiled machine.
There are many very successful storefront lenders all across the country and most of them have done very well.
FOMO?
However, sometimes we hear these executives also talk about the lost opportunity or online competitors taking their clients in droves. FOMO or Fear of Mission Out sets in and they start thinking about how to get online and also doesn't cannibalize their storefront traffic.
Read more at ALCHEMY
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CFPB Issues Policies to Facilitate Compliance and Promote Innovation
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) today issued three new policies to promote innovation and facilitate compliance: the No-Action Letter (NAL) Policy, Trial Disclosure Program (TDP) Policy, and Compliance Assistance Sandbox (CAS) Policy. The Bureau proposed the policies in 2018 and received public comments on each from a diverse array of stakeholders.
Regulatory uncertainty can hinder the development of innovative products and services that benefit consumers. NALs provide increased regulatory certainty through a statement that the Bureau will not bring a supervisory or enforcement action against a company for providing a product or service under certain facts and circumstances. The new NAL Policy improves on the Bureau's 2016 NAL Policy by having, among other things, a more streamlined review process focusing on the consumer benefits and risks of the product or service in question.
The Bureau today issued its first NAL under the new NAL Policy in response to a request by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on behalf of more than 1,600 housing counseling agencies (HCAs) that participate in HUD's
Read more at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
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Rep. Harder introduces bill to improve oversight of bank transactions
Rep. Josh Harder (D-CA) introduced a bill, the Financial Watchdog Support Act, which is designed to improve oversight of financial transactions between banks and other financial institutions.
"The recession cost people their homes, their retirements, and their jobs - we can never let a collapse like that happen again," Harder said. "Before 2010, the financial industry ran like the wild west - we have important new protections that insulate regular people from another meltdown, but they're not always the most efficient. My bill will help us sharpen one of the most important tools in the toolbox to help protect our economy and keep our families' savings safe."
Currently, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulates financial transactions between banks and relies on information databases called "Swap Data Repositories" (SDRs) to obtain records of financial deals. The CFTC monitors transactions including "credit default swaps," which many economists have blamed for the unraveling of financial markets in 2008. SDRs ensure that federal regulators have the data to track transactions and monitor potential risks to the economy. Read more at Financial Regulation News
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REPAY Joins the Symitar Vendor Integration Program. by Kristen Hoyman
Sept. 10, 2019-Repay Holdings Corporation, (NASDAQ: RPAY) ("REPAY") a leading provider of vertically-integrated payment solutions, today announced that it has joined the Symitar® Vendor Integration Program (VIP). Participation in the program will provide REPAY with access to Symitar's technical resources to enable REPAY's proprietary payment platform to integrate with Symitar's Episys® platform. The Vendor Integration Program is designed to help ensure that Symitar's customers can easily deploy third-party products.
REPAY's payment platform integrates with Episys via SymXchange™, a services-based programming interface that enables third-party vendors and credit unions to access the platform's core data and business rules. The integrity of data is maintained throughout any data exchange, because access to business rules and data is managed through a service layer which governs these interactions.
REPAY's payment technology aims to help credit unions reduce the complexity of electronic payments, increase member satisfaction, and enhance the member experience by offering convenient and secure payment options. Read more at REPAY
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CFPB and State Regulators Launch American Consumer Financial Innovation Network
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau), working in partnership with multiple state regulators, launched the American Consumer Financial Innovation Network (ACFIN), a network to enhance coordination among federal and state regulators to facilitate financial innovation.
The Bureau invited all state regulators to join ACFIN, and the initial members of ACFIN are the Attorneys General of: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah.
ACFIN enhances shared objectives such as competition, consumer access, and financial inclusion. Additionally, ACFIN promotes regulatory certainty for innovators, benefiting the U.S. economy and consumers alike. The network also seeks to keep pace with market innovations and help ensure they are free from fraud, discrimination, and deceptive practices.
Read more at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
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Data scientists evaluate credit risk to help lenders, borrowers. by Christie Delfanian
To lend or not to lend, that is the question.
With the increase in online lending, financial service companies face the daunting task of determining which consumers will repay their loans and, more importantly, which will not.
Traditionally, the risk was determined based solely on credit history. However, ValidiFI, a Florida-based company, provides lending companies an alternative means of evaluating risk, in part, through predictive modeling expertise from the data scientists of South Dakota State University's Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
"We help financial service companies make better decisions when providing a financial product to a consumer," explained ValidiFI Chief Operating Officer Jesse Berger. "We are a few years into it and already working with some of the largest personal lenders in the nation."
Using vast amounts of complex data to detect patterns can help lenders determine which applicants will repay loans-and it's one of the strengths of the SDSU data science program, explained associate professor Tom Brandenburger. Read more at VALIDIFI
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LENDING: ACCEPT ALL FORMS OF PAYMENT AND KEEP THE LOANS FLOWING
Payliance supports many forms of lending, including installment, marketplace, merchant cash advance, payday and lease-to-own. Payliance consults with you to implement cost-effective, streamlined payments solution that meets the unique specifications of your product design and operational model.
FEATURES OF OUR LENDING INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS
- ACH, eCheck, RCC, and Debit Cards
- Smart Re-Presentment
- State Licensed, Retail and Online
- Big-Time Databases
- Full Stack APIs
- Fully Customizable
Read more at PAYLIANCE
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What does traditional credit screening miss? Start with 70 million potential customers.
A new world of creditworthy customers are getting lost in the "invisible marketplace." Here's how our Credit Risk solution can help you find them.
They are the future of your business, the people who can help lenders reach aggressive sales goals in an increasingly tight credit market. They are 70 million strong and loaded with purchasing power. But according to traditional credit screening, they simply don't exist.
The fact is, as many of 30% of adults in today's credit market are virtually invisible to traditional screening methods.
Those traditional scores were designed to assess traditional middle-class and upper-class consumers who purchased houses and cars and used credit cards frequently, building up extensive credit histories over time. It turns out Millennials and Generation Z consumers just don't fit that pattern. The oldest Millennials are now nearly 40 years old, but only 15% of Millennials have purchased a house.[1] Many will take Uber rather than buy a car, and prefer Venmo over Visa, but millions of these thin-file, no-file digital natives are genuinely creditworthy and just waiting to be your good customer.
Read more at ACCELITAS
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3 things a small business can do to retain employees
With the economy strong and a lot of companies looking for help, workers have more options than they otherwise would. That can create problems for small businesses, which may not be able to match the pay or perks at bigger firms.
But just because big companies might offer your employees a raise does not mean you can't compete. As a small business owner, you need to be creative and figure out what you can offer that the big boys may not be willing or able to match. Here are three ideas.
1. Offer flexibility
As a small business, you don't have to lock employees into a traditional schedule. Maybe one worker needs to schedule around a school bus pickup and drop-off, while another likes to work longer days in order to leave early on Friday. Read more at FOX BUSINESS
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ACE Cash Express Helps Children Reach Their Full Potential by Raising
$12,856 for Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio during the
ACE Cash Express annual Give a Little campaign.
Sep 03, 2019
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2019 Summer Internship Program
A special thank you to each of our summer interns for a successful 2019 Summer Internship Program! You made us successful through your results and achievements. Our journey with you may stop here, but for you, it is the beginning of your career. Be dedicated to your work. We wish you a successful life.
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OWNERS: Let me know what you do in your communities and I'll include you in our
Newsletters!
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ALTERNATIVE FINANCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS ASSOCIATION
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| Alternative Financial Service Providers Association
757.737.4088 315 Tuscarora St., Lewiston, NY 14092
[email protected]
www.afspassociation.com |
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