ALTERNATIVE FINANCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS ASSOCIATION

edition: January 21, 2025

Amazon Ventures Into Connected Cars, While Walmart Doubles Down on Health and Wellness


Amazon and Walmart are each carving out new territories in response to consumer demands, but their approaches are quite different.


Amazon is focusing on the automotive industry, particularly through connected vehicles, while Walmart is concentrating on expanding its health and wellness offerings. Both companies are leveraging their vast ecosystems, but where Amazon is leveraging its technology to reshape car-buying experiences, Walmart is strengthening its impact on community health through accessible services.


At CES 2025, Amazon expanded its expanding efforts in the connected car space, showcasing new partnerships with BMW, Qualcomm, and Valeo to elevate in-car experiences through advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and Alexa-powered assistants. Amazon’s collaboration with BMW centers on integrating intelligent, voice-activated systems into vehicles, while its partnership with Qualcomm aims to improve in-car AI. Additionally, Amazon is working with Valeo to advance software-defined vehicles (SDVs), pushing the automotive industry toward greater connectivity and personalization.


Read more at PYMNTS.COM

Paving the Payments Future
Proven payment technology helps businesses pay and
get paid so they can focus on what matters most.

Have a tax law question?

Our #IRS Interactive Tax Assistant has answers.

Watch this short video to learn more:

https://youtu.be/y6HkaBkdKdU


  • Many #IRS tax forms are now available to fill out and submit using your cell phone or tablet. Check out new mobile-friendly forms at https://ow.ly/ezuS50UxkYj


Jose L. Santiago

Public Affairs Specialist

Tax Outreach, Partnership and Education

Emailjose.l.santiago@irs.gov

Language Access in Consumer Finance: CFPB


A growing number of financial institutions have expanded their capacity to serve consumers in languages other than English. However, consumers with limited English proficiency continue to encounter barriers to fair and competitive financial services. 


Approximately 26 million people in the U.S. speak English less than “very well” and are considered to have limited English proficiency.1 To better understand how financial institutions are serving consumers in languages other than English, the CFPB recently engaged with industry associations, financial services providers, and other stakeholders. Through this engagement, we observed increasing recognition that consumers with limited English proficiency are an underserved market. Stakeholders described growing momentum for incorporating multilingual strategies in the financial services industry, largely driven by business considerations.


Though the scale and scope of language services programs vary, the CFPB identified a diverse range of financial institutions that have developed approaches to communicate with consumers in their preferred language. At the same time, the CFPB has also observed ongoing challenges for consumers with limited English proficiency, underscoring the need for continuing efforts to expand communication and customer service in languages other than English.


Read more at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

Revolving Credit Drops 12% in November as Consumers Trim Balances


November’s stats from the Federal Reserve on consumer credit — known as the G.19 report — show a reversal from recent months, where households kept borrowing, padding balances, and using cards and other loans to finance daily life.


The question is: Was the decline in revolving credit (such as credit cards) and nonrevolving lines (fixed-term loans like auto loans), heading into the holiday season, a sign of things to come, when consumers will trim balances?


Or was it simply a pause that refreshed some spending power (on the cards, we mean — overall spending at retailers was up 0.7% in November, as noted here) as the season of gift giving alighted full force into the final weeks of the year?


PYMNTS Intelligence has reported through the past few months a bit of a shift: Consumers have been moving toward installment options, which include card-linked installments and buy now, pay later plans. And elsewhere, in a recent “Paycheck-to-Paycheck” report, as of last fall, 75% of consumers carried at least some card debt.


Read more at PYMNTS.COM

CFPB Research Reveals Heavy Buy Now, Pay Later Use Among Borrowers with High Credit Balances and Multiple Pay-in-Four Loans: CFPB


More than 60 percent of users had simultaneous loans, borrowers held higher balances on other credit lines, and most loans went to consumers with subprime or lower credit scores


WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a study of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) borrowers, finding that more than one-fifth of consumers with a credit record used BNPL loans in 2022, with most of those consumers having subprime or deep subprime credit scores. The CFPB research also revealed that more than three-fifths of BNPL borrowers held multiple simultaneous BNPL loans at some point during the year, and one-third had loans from multiple providers. BNPL borrowers were also more likely than other consumers to have higher balances on other unsecured credit lines such as credit cards. Because lenders do not typically report BNPL loans to nationwide consumer reporting companies, data about BNPL use—especially about borrowers with multiple loans and on total consumer debt balances—is limited. Today’s study helps fill the data gap by pairing a matched sample of BNPL applications from six large firms with deidentified credit records.


Read more at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

Customized Payment Processing and
Merchant Service Provider for Your Business

How much money you need to retire in every U.S. state—it’s more than $700,000


Where you retire could change your savings needs by as much as $1.49 million, according to a new analysis by GOBankingRates.


In Hawaii, you need around $2.21 million to retire at 65 and cover essential living expenses — including housing, groceries, transportation, utilities and health care — for 25 years. That’s the highest minimum required in any U.S. state. By comparison, West Virginia requires just $712,913, the lowest amount needed to cover these same basic costs.


The estimates are based on average annual living expenses for each state, using the most recent data available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. After subtracting average Social Security income from the annual expenditures, GOBankingRates divided the remaining amount by 4%, following a common rule of thumb for safely drawing down retirement savings. It’s worth noting that these figures reflect the bare minimum needed to retire and don’t account for discretionary spending like travel or entertainment.


Read more at CNBC

Enabling organizations to streamline payment acceptance,
minimize processing costs, and reduce the risk of fraud.

Can AI give financial advice?


Our Q&A explores how banks and credit unions can leverage this technology for financial wellness while avoiding one-size-fits-all solutions that disappoint customers.


A version of this article first appeared in the November BAI Executive Report: Harnessing the power of AI in banking. Find more insight within on careful adoption of artificial intelligence, automation and machine learning, from SMB examples to creating core efficiencies, expanding lending use cases and more.  


The rise of artificial intelligence (AI), and more recently generative AI, at banks and credit unions has already captured the industry’s attention, and its use within personal finance creates unique possibilities and potential pitfalls.


Read more at BAI.ORG

The Most Advanced Self-Service Check Cashing ATM
Check Cashing, Money Transfer, Bill Payment, Mobile Reload, ATM and more.

Holding Credit Reporting Companies Accountable for Junk Data: CFPB


Credit reports serve as economic gatekeepers for millions of Americans seeking to buy a home, start a business, or get a car loan. When these reports contain inaccuracies or mistakes, consumers can face serious financial consequences - from loan denials to higher interest rates.


The Fair Credit Reporting Act establishes clear legal requirements for credit reporting companies. They must ensure the accuracy of the detailed dossiers they compile on Americans, provide consumers access to their information, and give consumers the right to correct inaccurate data. These core provisions protect consumers by helping ensure that credit report information is about the right person and that errors don't lead to real-world consequences like denial of employment.


We have seen how credit reporting companies have repeatedly tried to get federal courts to bless numerous dubious arguments to try and shirk responsibility when their bad data leads to consumers getting harmed.


Read more at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

Dreher Tomkies LLP

Mortgage Lenders Must Comply with the Law, Not Invent Loopholes: CFPB


Consumers are entitled to critical legal protections regardless of how products are labeled


Today, the CFPB released a report, consumer advisory, and amicus brief on home equity contracts—often called home equity “investments.” These relatively new financial products can be costly, risky and complex.


The report and consumer advisory explain how home equity contracts work, what they cost, and risks they pose to consumers. Home equity contracts can be more expensive than other home-secured financing and must be repaid in full in one payment that can be hundreds of thousands of dollars and difficult to predict ahead of time. Homeowners who can’t afford the repayment may be forced to sell their home.


Given the risks to consumers from these products, which are consistent with complaints that the CFPB has received, consumers must receive critical protections with respect to these products regardless of how they are labeled or what complex financing terms are included. The CFPB is committed to preventing companies from evading the law by trying to exploit legal loopholes or crafting misguided arguments about why the law does not apply to them.


Read more at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

Watch Your Business Skyrocket.

More Visibility. More Customers. More Loans

CFPB Approves Application from Financial Data Exchange to Issue Standards for Open Banking: CFPB


Agency also issues updated procedures for companies requesting special regulatory treatment


WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an order recognizing Financial Data Exchange, Inc. (FDX) as a standard setting body under the CFPB’s Personal Financial Data Rights rule. The order of recognition is the first to be issued under the rule. The Personal Financial Data Rights rule, which was released in October 2024, requires financial institutions, credit card issuers, and other financial providers to unlock an individual’s personal financial data and transfer it to another provider at the consumer’s request for free. The CFPB established a formal application process outlining the qualifications to become a recognized industry standard setting body, which can issue standards that companies can use to help them comply with the CFPB’s rule. The CFPB also issued updated procedures for companies seeking special regulatory treatment, such as through “no-action letters.”


Read more at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

Send the 'Consumer Financial Education' Newsletter

 to your your customers for FREE

4 Reasons 34% of Women Say They Have Extreme Financial Stress


Women are earning more money now than they have in decades, but they are also reporting more financial stress than men.


Adjusted for inflation, women’s wages have increased by almost 14% since 1979, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, nearly 34% of women surveyed by GOBankingRates reported extreme financial stress, especially when it came to saving money. Only 24% of men said they experienced the same level of financial strain.


“Women face unique financial stressors due to the compounding effects of pay inequity, caregiving responsibilities and rising costs of living,” said Constance Craig-Mason, a financial planner and CEO of Concierge Financial Advisory.


Here are four reasons 34% of women say they have extreme financial stress.


Read more at NASDAQ.COM

POST your JOB OPENINGS HERE

Contact Us for Rates: marketing@afspassociation.com

FSBO POSTINGS in our Newsletters

Contact Us for Rates: marketing@afspassociation.com

ALTERNATIVE FINANCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS ASSOCIATION

ASSOCIATION WEBSITE

ADVERTISE

Alternative Financial Service Providers Association

757.737.4088

315 Tuscarora St., Lewiston, NY 14092

dan@afspassociation.com

www.afspassociation.com 



Copyright © AFSPA 2007-2025