Personal Finance

On September 14, 2023, in a neighborhood described as having over 30 payday loan centers, one within plain view of R and R Marketplace, Midwest BankCentre opened its newest branch. In addition to testing new products, services and technology to serve individual bank customers, the bank has committed to making smaller-dollar, non-traditional loans to small businesses and entrepreneurs. Consumers Council applauds the progress of Midwest BankCentre which in 2011 was the subject of a...

Illinois-based First Mid Bank & Trust has agreed to operational improvements, including making small business loan subsidies and establishing branches in underserved areas, in response to criticism that threatened to derail its proposed merger with Jefferson Bank and Trust. Advocacy groups, including St. Louis Equal Housing and Community Reinvestment Alliance (SLEHCRA) and Woodstock Institute, last year complained to the Federal Reserve Bank of redlining and low levels of service to...

Missouri has some of the laxest laws in the country regarding predatory lending. As the power of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is continually threatened, our state refuses every year to adopt modest regulations. Cities have no choice but to take matters into their own hands to protect citizens from spiraling and crushing debt. Our executive director joins faith leaders in weighing in on municipal reforms this week in the Springfield News Leader.

Today the Missouri House Financial Institutions Committee passed a bill that purports to regulate payday lending in several ways – some of which appear to be beneficial to consumers. However, HB 2657 currently lacks the real regulatory changes the state of Missouri needs to protect its citizens. In fact, passage of this bill leaves Missouri far behind the regulation of all of our surrounding states. First, and foremost the bill modestly reduces interest limits from 75% to 35%. While this...

Black applicants in St. Louis metro area were 2.5 times as likely to be denied a home mortgage as white applicants. CCM Board Prez Jackie Hutchinson emphasized that lack of lending in predominately black neighborhoods is at a generational low. #MoConsumers   https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2018/02/16/in-st-louis-black-mortgage-applicants-are-25-times-more-likely-to-be-denied

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU TAKES ACTION AGAINST NATIONAL COLLEGIATE STUDENT LOAN TRUSTS, TRANSWORLD SYSTEMS FOR ILLEGAL STUDENT LOAN DEBT COLLECTION LAWSUITS All 800,000 Loans Will Be Independently Audited, Companies Will Pay at Least $21.6 Million and Stop Suing for Invalid or Unverified Debts   Washington, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today took action against the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts and their debt collector, Transworld Systems, Inc., for...

Prop S seeks more regulation of payday loans in St. Louis; supporters say state is failing. http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/prop-s-seeks-more-regulation-payday-loans-st-louis-supporters-say-state-failing#stream/0