The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is in the late stages of formulating the first nationwide rules for payday lending and industry observers have begun speculating on what changes will be made. The CFPB is barred by the Dodd-Frank Act from setting a nationwide interest-rate cap, but the bureau is likely to set a regulatory floor below which the states may not fall. The CFPB has not signaled whether the new rules will include ability-to-pay standards or whether they will include restrictions on requesting access to customers' bank accounts. The rulemaking process will continue for at least several months as the CFPB convenes panels to assess the rules' potential impact, proposes a rule and accepts public comment before issuing a finalized rule.