The federal government will be giving payday loans "much more attention," Richard Cordray, head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said Thursday during the agency's first field hearing.
At the hearing in Birmingham, Ala., a city that's also grappling with how to regulate the notorious consumer loan products, Cordray outlined a dual track for regulating payday loans.
He warned that it will be using its powers to wipe out illegal payday lending practices--such as unauthorized debits on a person's checking account--while it also gathers data necessary to hash out a broader regulatory framework for the industry as a whole.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/01/19/consumer-bureau-will-take-immediate-steps-to-end-illegal-payday-loan-practices/#ixzz1k0nl6c1g