Post-Durbin, many issuers of prepaid debit cards have introduced higher fees upon their cardholders when they make a purchase with their PIN, but new data from the Federal Reserve shows that two-tiered pricing schedules are out-of-synch with the empirical results.

On May 1st, the Fed published a report on its examination of actual interchange prices on a per-transaction basis. The data compared signature transactions with PIN transactions. Networks (more…)

The stated intentions of Green Dot Bank to meet its obligations under the Community Reinvestment Act demonstrate the inability of the 1977 law to adapt to changes in today’s banking system.

As a condition for the Federal Reserve‘s approval of Green Dot’s application to buy Bonneville (more…)

The Federal Reserve gave its approval to Green Dot’s acquisition of Bonneville Bancorp on Friday.

Green Dot will pay $15.7 million for Bonneville. The new entity will be renamed Green Dot Bank.

This is a significant event for Green Dot because it will allow them to capture more of the income (more…)

The Federal Reserve will hold the first of three public meetings to give the public a chance to comment on the acquisition of ING by Capital One.

Interest in the deal is so great that the Fed is taking the unusual step of holding the first meeting in a DC hotel. Seven panels, each made up of at least five commenters, fill the schedule. The hearings include testimony from Cap One and ING. Consumer advocates will speak against approval, but the Fed will hear support from the deal from many community development groups that have received grants from the two financial entities.

Advocates face a strategic dilemma: should they oppose the deal or instead ask for the Fed to give the merger the merger their blessing, albeit with conditions? Such an arrangement would require Cap One to develop a plan to make investments and grants to nonprofits and CDCs.

The deal would create an institution with over $300 billion in deposits. That is only a few billion less than Citigroup. The deal challenges the intention of Dodd-Frank to wind down the concentration of just a few big banks. This deal presages a fifth member of the Too Big to Fail club.

- Editor’s Note: This is a guest editorial by Peter Skillern. Mr. Skillern is the Executive Director of the Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina. His comments also appear in a story published in today’s Charlotte Observer.

I am an advocate who for 20 years has petitioned for lenders to be held accountable for unfair and illegal loan practices.  Yesterday, the Federal Reserve fined Wells Fargo $85 million and ordered up to $200 million in restitution to borrowers. The penalty is meant to address violations made by Wells Fargo Finance, which was a mortgage loan (more…)