Financial trade advocates expressed concerns about recent changes announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) with respect to lending policies for the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs), as well as continuing opposition to the Federal Reserve’s proposed rule amending interchange fee caps.
Learn about these issues and more in this roundup.
CBA reiterates opposition to interchange fee proposal
The Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) continued its “Facts Matter” campaign with a new blog post describing the trade group’s opposition to the Federal Reserve’s proposed rule aimed at reducing debit interchange fees. Among the key points raised by the trade group are the findings of multiple independent studies indicating government intervention in debit card interchange fees leads to higher costs for consumer checking account products, with low-to-moderate income consumers being hit hardest. The group further stated smaller banks and credit unions can be impacted too, as well as their customers. Furthermore, CBA pointed to research indicating merchants made no noticeable change in prices as a result of previous amendments to interchange fee requirements. Read more here.
MBA reports nearly 4 percent increase in mortgage applications
Mortgage applications increased 3.9 percent, according to data gathered for the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly applications survey for the week ending July 12. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the mortgage composite index, which measures data on mortgage loan application volume, increased 30 percent compared with the previous week. The refinance index saw a 15 percent increase the previous week and was 37 percent higher than the same week one year ago, MBA reported. The seasonally adjusted purchase index dropped 3 percent from the previous week. The unadjusted purchase index increased 22 percent compared with the prior week and was 14 percent lower than the same week last year. MBA also reported a 0.7 percent bump in new home purchase mortgage applications in June. To see more insights, follow this link.
ICBA reacts to FHLB decision to restrict member lending
In response to the FHLB of New York’s decision to restrict lending by its member banks, the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) issued a statement urging the FHFA “not to disrupt” the FHLB system as an important liquidity source for community banks. The New York-based FHLB stated it plans to impose additional qualitative and quantitative information reporting requirements to align with the FHFA’s more restrictive approach to lending. ICBA argued the agency’s approach “threatens to restrict access to home loans in local communities nationwide.” Read more here.
Credit unions worried about restricted access to FHLB dual mission statement
The FHFA’s plans to establish a FHLB dual mission statement has raised concerns among credit union advocates that doing so “could limit credit unions’ access to liquidity, impose restraints on their ability to offer innovative financial products, and increase compliance costs and administrative burdens,” America’s Credit Unions (ACU) and several state-level trade groups wrote to the agency. The trade groups also expressed concerns that, without further clarification, “the proposed incentive program would likely primarily benefit volume lenders and push small community lenders out of the market.” Learn more here.