Financial Service Centers Of America Statement In Response To H.R. 5485 And Sewell-Waters Amendment Votes

WASHINGTON, July 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial Service Centers of America (FiSCA), the national trade association representing 5,000-member financial service center locations around the U.S., issued the following statement today in response to the votes on H.R. 5485, the FY 2017 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, and the Sewell-Waters Amendment #17:

"We applaud the House of Representatives for standing with the American people this week and voting to preserve access to credit for millions of consumers across the country," said Ed D'Alessio, FiSCA's Executive Director. "By passing H.R. 5485 and rejecting the Sewell-Waters Amendment, this bipartisan group of lawmakers took an important step in keeping critical and often lifesaving lines of credit open for hard-working Americans."   

Bipartisan language in H.R. 5485 requires the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to pause the implementation of the proposed federal rules governing small dollar lending in America, an extensive and economically devastating regulation that would deny access to short-term credit options to millions of Americans. The Sewell-Waters Amendment would have stripped provisions from the underlying government funding bill, which prohibits funds from being used by the CFPB to enforce regulations or rules with respect to payday loans, short term loans, vehicle title loans, or other similar loans during FY 2017. H.R. 5485 passed by a vote of 239 to 184, and the Sewell-Waters Amendment failed by a vote of 240 to 182.

"Members of the US House of Representatives, and Chairman Crenshaw in particular, are to be commended for standing up for millions of working middle-class consumers in Florida and across the Nation. CFPB has ignored the facts, and rushed an ill-conceived and highly political rule-making process with devastating consequences to our customers - the very consumers CFPB is mandated by law to ensure have both appropriate protection and continued access to credit. CFPB has ignored the pleas of states, consumers who depend on short term credit, small businesses which provide state and federally regulated short term credit, and our Nations' insured depositories," said D'Alessio.

"Thankfully, Members of Congress listened to consumers, their constituents, and a broad range of stakeholders, including state regulators, and passed a one-year moratorium on the Rule."

"Should it take effect, the CFPB's proposed small-dollar loan rule would strip away already-regulated and legal credit options for millions of Americans. The rulemaking and enforcement activities of the CFPB would substitute federal judgment for that of the states."

"By proceeding with these overly prescriptive rules, the CFPB is directly ignoring the wide-ranging and serious concerns of lawmakers, stakeholders in the financial services industry and the ordinary Americans who use these services every day. We stand with the House of Representatives in stopping the implementation of this discriminatory and economically devastating rule."

About FiSCA

FiSCA is a national trade association representing the Financial Service Center (FSC) industry.  FiSCA members offer a wide array of necessary financial products and services to tens of millions of Americans each year in accordance with state and federal law. Additional information about FiSCA is available at www.fisca.org.

SOURCE Financial Service Centers of America

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http://www.fisca.org