Cards

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is warning that excessive fees can chip away at the cash sent to the most vulnerable consumers who opt to receive Social Security and other public benefits via prepaid cards.

A growing number of companies like Klarna, Sezzle and Circle let consumers split large purchases into smaller transactions paid over time. But they say they need to offer more than one product to set themselves apart and build customer loyalty.

The first-time securitization by the online commercial-finance will involve more than half of the San Francisco-based company's managed accounts portfolio.

Five Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee sent a letter to Director Kathy Kraninger calling the agency's response to COVID-19 “tepid and ineffectual at best.”

The agency has relaxed some reporting requirements and joined other regulators in encouraging banks to help borrowers, but pressure is building on the bureau to do more to aid consumers suffering financial hardship.

The reprieve from mortgage data collection was among several changes to the agency’s supervisory and enforcement procedures to help firms responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jason Gardner, founder and CEO of the card issuer Marqeta, discusses his experiences in starting up multiple fintechs and makes predictions for the new year.

The private-label card issuer has expanded into co-branded Mastercard accounts with several retailers, which have higher payment rates and fewer delinquencies than cards exclusive to partnering store chains.

Both in dollar and transaction volume, credit card use is growing at a faster pace than debit use. Much of the growth is coming from affluent consumers who value rewards like 2% cash back on purchases.

In a surprise move, the Supreme Court will decide whether Amex may bar merchants from steering customers to less expensive card networks. The card issuer will have to prove the consumer gain from its practices outweighs the merchant pain.