But Ellen Harnick, an executive vice president with the Center for Responsible Lending, said more must be done to ensure there are guardrails in place that allow states to protect their residents from potentially predatory rent-a-bank arrangements.
“It's very clear, and courts have been clear, that what's needed is to look behind appearances, behind the facial presentation of an arrangement, to see what's really going on — to follow the money and see who's really behind the loan,” Harnick said. “There is no reasonable basis for essentially blowing up the state's ability to protect their own residents, simply because some online lender has chosen to partner with a bank.”