Regulators' recent signals that they are planning changes to Community Reinvestment Act exams have reignited speculation about possible alterations. Comprehensive refor appears unlikely, but observers see potential for limited action. Changes may include crediting community-related activities done outside a bank's market and broadening the section of the exam focused on branch offerings. Regulators may also heighten the focus on products that specifically benefit low income borrowers and expand the list of community service activities eligible for CRA credit. Other reforms may include awarding credit for initiatives that improve healthcare in low income areas and adding more detailed data to exams about how products benefit low income customers.

Payday lenders say big banks are denying them service at the behest of federal regulators. The banks, they contend, are threatening to cut them off unless they stop offering payday loans. In one e-mail publicized by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), a banker cited regulatory action in a decision to deny credit to a payday lender: “Based on your performance, there’s no way we shouldn’t be a credit provider. Our only issue is, and it has always been, the space in which you operate. It is the scrutiny that you, and now that we, are under.” Federal regulators deny compelling banks to sever ties with the lenders, although regulators have told banks that doing business with companies that inflict such harm could damage a bank’s reputation and leave it vulnerable to litigation. 

A new report by Pew Charitable Trusts finds that nearly half of banks, including four of the nation’s five largest, still "reorder" checking account transactions -- a practice that can dramatically increase overdraft fees by processing larger withdrawals first, leaving smaller transactions to pile up fees. The practice is particularly onerous for low-income consumers who are unable to maintain high average balances. The study also found that an increasing number of banks are imposing new limits on consumer rights when resolving disputes and that one-third of big banks have yet to adopt summary disclosure graphics to cut through confusing checking account agreements that average 44 pages.

A new study by the FDIC found steadily improving trends for small community banks. According to the report, the number banks with assets between $100 million and $1 billion in assets has actually increased since 1985, but the number of banks with under $100 million has declined. Much of that decrease was due to consolidations and mergers. The pace of consolidation has steadily increased since 2010, when Congress passed the Dodd-Frank law. Richard Brown, chief economist at the FDIC, said the slowed-down real-estate market and low interest rates have been squeezing community banks that rely on mortgage lending and net interest income for their revenue.