The Final State of the Union
This is historical material “frozen in time”. The website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work.
Summary:
President Obama announces new payday lending rules in Birmingham, Alabama.
This afternoon, President Obama traveled to Birmingham, Alabama to highlight new actions the Administration is taking to protect you, the American consumer.
While in Birmingham, the President hosted a roundtable on the economy and delivered remarks at Lawson State Community College. He advocated for stricter payday lending rules and taked about the progress we’ve made building a safer and stronger financial system.
President Obama praised the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an independent watchdog that is taking new steps towards cracking down on abusive practices involving payday loans. Now, lenders will be required to verify that borrowers can pay them back, and limit short-term credits to 45 days.
President Obama made it clear that his long term objective, and the reason for his visit to Alabama, is take actions that prevent predatory practices from ripping off working families.
"If you’re making that profit by trapping hardworking Americans into a vicious cycle of debt, you’ve got to find a new business model."
— President Obama
President Obama said working families need protections from the heavy debt burdens that the financial industry can impose on Americans, and made sure to note that he would veto attempts to block his plans to ensure the financial industry is working for you.
Even beyond today, the Obama Administration has always made protecting consumers a priority. Aside from the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Obama Administration has taken several steps to help families and the middle class get ahead, including:
- Cracking down on conflicts of interest in retirement investment advice costing middle class families billions every year
- Putting in place a bill of rights for students that are taking out loans to pay for college
- Providing proactive mortgage payment relief for active duty service members and their families
Read more about what we mean when we say consumer protections here. And then learn even more about the Obama Administration’s commitment to protecting consumers from unfair and abusive practices.
And if you missed the President's speech, read his remarks from Lawson State Community College here.
Jenna Brayton is an Associate Director of Content in the White House Office of Digital Strategy.
