Following up on my July 22 post on FedNow: Mark Budnitz of Georgia State reminds me that one issue with FedNow that may create issues for consumers is its incorporation of UCC Article 4A’s wire transfer rules, even though Article 4A’s rules were not written for transactions involving consumers, and so lack safeguards that are […]
Christine posted on Thursday about the risks of FedNow fraud. So you might wonder why, or even if, FedNow would be a positive for consumers. While FedNow obviously won’t be a positive for those who are scammed into using it to enrich fraudsters, it might be positive for consumers in a number of ways. For […]
The Federal Reserve today launched FedNow, a new payment system that participating banks and credit unions can use to facilitate faster payments for their customers. So far, according to the Fed, 35 “early-adopting” financial institutions can receive payments instantly through FedNow. Does this new system, which facilitates sending and receiving payments at any day and […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published today “a report highlighting the risks employer-driven debt poses to workers. After a review of responses to the CFPB’s public inquiry, the analysis describes the growing prevalence of employer-driven debt and challenges workers and consumers face when they become indebted to an employer or an employer’s affiliate as a […]
Yiwei Dou of NYU’s Department of Accounting, Mingyi Hung of the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Guoman She, and Lynn Linghuan Wang, both of the University of Hong Kong – Faculty of Business and Economics, have written Learning from Peers: Evidence from Disclosure of Consumer Complaints, 77 Journal of Accounting & Economics (Forthcoming […]
In 2004, California amended its unfair competition law to eliminate associational standing–that is, membership organizations could no longer bring claims based on injuries to their members. Only claims based on injuries to the organizations themselves could serve as a basis for suit. Yesterday, in California Medical Association v. Aetna Health of California, the California Supreme […]
“You don’t need much agricultural expertise to know that every weed is supported by an extensive underground root structure.” What an A+ quote from the Federal Trade Commission’s business blog (Lesley Fair), which gives a visual description of the government’s latest effort to combat pervasive robocalls, this time tackling robocalls’ root structure: third-party lead generators. […]
Section 1681e(b) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires credit reporting agencies to “follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information” reported. In 2021, a district court held that a plaintiff cannot bring a claim for violating that provision when “the accuracy at issue requires a legal determination as to the […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau joined with 10 state attorneys general and a California regulator to take action against Prehired for deceptive marketing and debt collection practices. The CFPB explains: “Prehired operated a 12-week online training program claiming to prepare consumers for entry-level positions as software sales development representatives with “six-figure salaries” and a “job […]
Samuel Becher of Victoria University of Wellington has written Ex ante Access to Justice 30 Competition and Consumer Law Journal, issue 2 (2023 Forthcoming). Here is the abstract: Access to justice is a key challenge in the consumer protection landscape. Scholars and policymakers acknowledge this challenge and have devised various means to increase consumers’ access […]

