The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and the NAACP have sent a letter to Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry urging him not to offer national charters to financial technology firms, which could severely undermine state oversight and state laws that protect consumers and small business owners from abusive financial products and practices:
The Center for Responsible Lending, along with the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human rights and the NAACP, appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC’s) white paper proposing the issuance of a special purpose national bank charter to financial technology (fintech) companies. We understand that the OCC seeks to expand financial inclusion and lead innovation through issuing non-bank charters to fintech institutions. However, we believe that if the OCC proceeds with granting a federal charter to fintech companies, the Agency will undermine the responsible regulatory framework that it purports to advance and in fact will do harm to consumers, not serve the public interest. Continue reading the leader...