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March 25, 2014 – CFPB's field hearing on payday loans today in Nashville, Tenn., will be followed by a credit union roundtable discussion that will be attended by NAFCU Board member Daniel Weickenand, CEO of Orion FCU (Memphis).

The field hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Central at the Country Music Hall of Fame. CFPB Director Richard Cordray will deliver remarks and testimony from consumer groups, industry representatives and members of the public is also slated. The event is open to the public and requires an RSVP. The credit union roundtable discussion with Cordray is not open to the public but Weickenand will be in attendance.

CFPB began accepting complaints about payday loans in November. NAFCU continues to closely monitor the data the bureau collects and releases, and it has raised concerns about the reputation risk that false complaints in the system could create.

Credit unions are authorized by NCUA to offer small-dollar, short-term loans to their members. The NCUA rules set strict limits on the amount, duration and number of loans that can be provided to a single member at any one time. NCUA says this type of lending grew to $27 million last year, up 27.6 percent from year-end 2012.

NAFCU continues to encourage CFPB to provide credit unions as much flexibility as possible in providing their members loans that are both viable and less costly than the loans they could obtain elsewhere.