Reps. Cummings and Bonamici Urge Banks to Protect their Customers from Online Payday Lender Withdrawals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, D.C.— Representatives Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), as the top Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) are urging major banks to allow consumers to block automatic withdrawals taken from their accounts by Internet-based payday lenders. In a letter to the CEOs of the five largest U.S. retail banks, Cummings and Bonamici asked the executives to voluntarily adopt provisions of the Stopping Abuse and Fraud in Electronic (SAFE) Lending Act, H.R. 990, which they introduced in Congress earlier this year. The request follows a decision by JPMorgan Chase to reform the way it treats withdrawals from Internet-based payday lenders.

You may read the full letter on the Committee website by clicking here.