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Tag Archives: Checks and Check Cashing

News Roundup — December 1, 2009 to December 22, 2009

Consumer Financial Protection Agency

On December 11, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives approved sweeping new legislation to modernize America’s financial rules in response to the current recession. HR 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed by a vote of 223 to 202 and includes a comprehensive set of reforms that addresses many of the problems that the nation faces today. Among the various actions facilitated by the bill, if signed into law, the Act would create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency and establish an orderly process for shutting down large, failing financial institutions that are deemed “too big to fail”.

Broox Peterson presents a short opinion piece on HR 4173. Whether the Senate version will survive intact is anyone’s guess. An article highlighting Sen. Christopher Dodd‘s (D-CT) sponsorship of the bill appeared on National Public Radio on November 10, 2009.

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Email This Content Email This Content Posted in News Roundup. Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , . By Stan Santos - Tuesday, December 22, 2009

News Roundup — September 9, 2009 to September 18, 2009

Consumer Financial Protection Agency

John Pottow has an opinion piece regarding the proposed CFPA in the Detroit Free Press. He observes that the proposed agency would help small banks relative to big banks because of reduced fixed regulatory costs and would improve the market for simple financial products that are the strong suit of small banks.

Mr. Pottow is an internationally recognized expert in the field of bankruptcy and commercial law. He is a professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School where his area of expertise concentrates on the issues involved in regulation of cross-border insolvencies. In addition, he is a frequent commentator on national and international media outlets such as NPR, CNBC, CNN, C-SPAN and the BBC.

At Reuters, Felix Salmon has the full text of President Obama’s speech at Federal Hall, delivered in New York City on September 14, 2009. His analysis can be viewed here while the Republican rejoinder is here. Over at the Wall Street Journal, Michael Corkery posted a live blog of the proceedings which you can view here.

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Email This Content Email This Content Posted in News Roundup. Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , . By Stan Santos - Friday, September 18, 2009

News Roundup — August 24, 2009 to September 8, 2009

Prepaid Cards

On August 24, 2009, the New York Daily News published an article regarding prepaid cards and so-called “hidden costs”. Of possible interest is a quote from Kirsten Trusko, president of the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association, located towards the end of the piece that helps to balance the article’s slant against the prepaid and debit card industry.

Increasing popularity of reloadable prepaid cards, particularly among the unbanked and the underbanked, has begun to raise concerns among consumer advocates who view the cards as lacking important protections offered on bank cards. As more merchants become active in issuing these cards, advocates are lobbying for more oversight. For reference, see the recent Consumers Union report released on August 13, 2009.

The September 2009 issue of Selling Prepaid E-Magazine is now online. One article that may be of interest describes the perceived advantages of having/using prepaid cards in financial transactions over traditional methods such as paper checks, credit cards or debit cards.

An article published on September 6, 2009 in the Chicago Tribune describes how the U.S. Treasury has been campaigning to get Social Security and Supplemental Security Income recipients to switch to prepaid debit cards from paper checks.

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Email This Content Email This Content Posted in News Roundup. Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , . By Stan Santos - Tuesday, September 8, 2009

News Roundup — August 6, 2009 to August 14, 2009

Recent Litigation

The August 2009 issue of Selling Prepaid E-Magazine is now online. Particularly noteworthy is a news capsule that mentions Bryan Cave LLP‘s successful representation of Green Dot Corp. in the matter of Every Penny Counts, Inc. v. American Express Company, et. al. (2008-1434).

Resolution was recently reached in an appeal for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit in the matter of Deanthony Thomas et. al. v. U.S. Bank, National Association ND et. al. The court held that the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDA), 12 USC @ Section 1831d does not preempt state law usury claims against a federally-insured state-chartered bank. Congress very clearly intended the preemptive scope of the DIDA to be limited to particular circumstances. The court reversed trial court and ordered the case to be remanded to state court for consideration under Missouri usury law.

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Email This Content Email This Content Posted in News Roundup. Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . By Stan Santos - Friday, August 14, 2009

News Roundup — July 6, 2009 to July 10, 2009

Checks and Check Cashing

An article published on FinExtra on July 8, 2009 highlighted a rising trend in fradulent activity. Several members of a New Jersey street gang have recently been arrested by authorities and accused of using laptops and digital cameras with the intention of creating counterfeit checks worth over $650,000 for a period of over two years.

Payments and Interchange

NYCE Payments Network LLC expects to begin testing Internet-based debit transactions by the end of 2009 and to commence offering a commercial service by mid-2010. The service will rely on single-use debit card technology from Verient Inc., a technology company located in San Jose, California.

A sweeping new report from a Canadian Senate committee recommends the federal government create a payment-system oversight board, ban percentage-based debit card interchange for three years, and permit merchants to surcharge for card transactions. Many of the proposals in the report are similar to the issues now working their way through the U.S. Congress.

7-Eleven Inc. has gathered between 1 million and 1.2 million signatures on in-store petitions asking Congress to regulate interchange rates, and expects to have 3 million customer signatures by the time the petition drive ends Aug. 10, according to an interview with a marketing executive with the Dallas-based convenience-store chain.

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Email This Content Email This Content Posted in News Roundup. Tagged with , , , , , , , , . By Stan Santos - Tuesday, July 14, 2009

News Roundup — June 8, 2009 to June 12, 2009

Credit Cards

Adam Levitin blogs about the overall trend in credit card line reductions and eliminations, some of which is not necessarily attributable to the Credit CARD Act of 2009.

This WaPo article examines how Capital One has decided to restructure itself as a result of the Act.

TheFinanceBuff makes an argument for more standardization of credit card contracts in light of the Credit CARD Act of 2009.

TARP

On Tuesday, June 9, 2009, the Congressional Oversight Panel released a report entitled “Stress Testing and Shoring Up Bank Capital”. The report examines the recent stress tests conducted on America’s 19 largest bank holding companies and makes recommendations as to whether the stress tests should be repeated in the future.

Data Security

A security flaw in the online payment service PayPal means sensitive information is at risk and customers could lose control of their accounts, according to this article at Stuff.co.nz.

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Email This Content Email This Content Posted in News Roundup. Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , . By Stan Santos - Tuesday, June 16, 2009