Banking and Finance Law Daily Wrap Up, LOANS—Consumer, civil rights groups urge Congress to oppose 100%+ APR bank loans, (May 8, 2026)

By Shashi Kant, BALLB, LLM.

Coalition letter calls on lawmakers to reject Enova, OppFi bank bids, oppose bank-rate export bill, and back a 36% national cap.

A coalition of 103 consumer, civil rights, and community organizations urged congressional leaders to oppose what they described as “unaffordable 100%+ APR bank loans,” pressing lawmakers to block efforts that they say would expand high-cost lending through bank charters and federal rate-export rules. In a May 7 letter and related press release, the groups asked Congress to urge the Trump administration to deny applications by Enova and OppFi to become national banks, oppose Sen. Bernie Moreno’s American Lending Fairness Act, and support legislation to restore state authority over interest rate caps and establish a national 36% annual percentage rate ceiling.

The letter was sent to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill (R-Ark.), and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). The groups said Congress should “defend and strengthen interest rate limits and transparency” rather than allow measures that would, in their view, spread loans of 100% to 160% APR and higher across the country.

Coalition targets Enova and OppFi bank bids. A central focus of the filing is the pending effort by Enova and OppFi to obtain national bank charters through acquisitions. The coalition said Enova, through its NetCredit and CashNetUSA brands, makes loans with rates that can reach 100% to 300% APR and has chargeoff rates above 50%. The letter also pointed to Enova’s OnDeck small business lending business, which it described as making problematic high-cost loans. OppFi, the groups wrote, makes loans with rates of 160% APR and higher. According to the coalition, Enova and OppFi currently must comply with state interest-rate laws, but acquisition of national banks would allow them to bypass those limits under current law. The groups warned that approval of the applications would create what they described as the first national banks dedicated to directly making predatory loans and could open the chartering process to similar applications from other high-cost lenders.

Letter opposes Moreno bill, backs Whitehouse and Reed measures. The coalition also urged Congress to oppose S. 3889, the American Lending Fairness Act, which the letter said would curtail states’ ability to stop predatory lending by out-of-state, state-chartered banks. The groups argued that many nonbank lenders currently use “rent-a-bank” arrangements with out-of-state, state-chartered banks to charge 100% to 200% APR in states that would otherwise prohibit such rates, and they said S. 3889 would eliminate states’ ability to opt out of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 framework. At the same time, the coalition endorsed Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s S. 3721, the Empowering States’ Rights to Protect Consumers Act, which the letter said would require both national and state-chartered banks to comply with state interest-rate caps. The groups also backed Sen. Jack Reed’s S. 3793, the Predatory Lending Elimination Act, which would extend Military Lending Act-style protections to other consumers and cap rates at 36% APR. The letter emphasized that a 36% cap would apply whether the lender is a bank or not and said states should remain free to adopt lower caps.

Groups say public backs rate caps. The coalition said strong bipartisan majorities support interest-rate limits and described them as the simplest and most effective way to stop unaffordable lending. In the press release, the National Consumer Law Center said Congress should address affordability pressures by stopping banks from making high-cost loans, restoring and defending states’ ability to protect residents, and capping rates nationally.

The signatories include national consumer and civil rights groups such as Americans for Financial Reform, the Center for Responsible Lending, the Consumer Federation of America, Public Citizen, and the National Consumer Law Center, along with state and local organizations from across the country.

Companies: The Academy of Financial Education; Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc.; African American Clergy Collective of Tennessee; Americans for Financial Reform; Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending; Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development; Battle Born Progress; Bell Policy Center; Black Clergy Collaborative of Memphis; Brightpoint; Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union; California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform; California Consumer Protection Attorneys Association; California Low-Income Consumer Coalition; CAMBA / CAMBA Legal Services; CAMEO Network; CASH Campaign of Maryland; Center for Access to QDROs; Center for Economic Integrity; Center for Responsible Lending; Citizen Action/Illinois; Coalition on Human Needs; The Collaborative; Community Economic Development Association of Michigan; Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto; Consumers Council of Missouri; Consumer Federation of California; Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety; Consumer Action; Consumer Federation of America; Consumers League of New Jersey; Consumer Reports; DC Consumer Rights Coalition; Economic Action Maryland Fund; Economic Empowerment Center (dba Lending Link); Economic Progress Institute (Rhode Island); Economic Security Project California Action; Empire Justice Center; Enova; Equal Rights Advocates; Exodus Lending; Faith in Action; The FoolProof Foundation; Georgia Watch; Hip Hop Caucus; Homestead Resources; Housing Action Illinois; Housing and Family Services of Greater New York; Housing and Economic Rights Advocates; Illinois People's Action; Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute; Indiana Prosperity; JustLeadershipUSA; Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County; Legal Assistance for Seniors; Louisiana Progress; Legal Services of New Jersey; Lower East Side People's FCU; Margert Community Corporation; Manufactured Home Owners Association of New Jersey; Memphis Public Interest Law Center; Mental Health Advocacy Services; Mississippi Center for Justice; Moorish Science Temple of America #5; National Association of Consumer Advocates; National Center for Law and Economic Justice; National Community Reinvestment Coalition; National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients); National Disability Institute; National Fair Housing Alliance; Nevada Coalition of Legal Service Providers; New Economy Project; New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center; New Jersey Institute for Social Justice; New York Legal Assistance Group; New Yorkers for Responsible Lending; OppFi; Oregon Consumer Justice; Philadelphia Solar Energy Association; Project GREEN; Public Counsel; Public Law Center; People’s Action Institute; Public Citizen; Public Good Law Center; Public Justice; R.A.A. - Ready, Aim, Advocate; Reinvestment Alliance; Rise Economy; South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center; St. Louis Equal Housing and Community; Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment; Texas Appleseed; Texas Housers; TURN–The Utility Reform Network; Tzedek DC; United South Broadway Corporation; Virginia Citizens Consumer Council; Virginia Poverty Law Center; WESPAC Foundation, Inc.; Western New York Law Center; William E. Morris Institute for Justice; Woodstock Institute

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