US lender Enova fined $15m by CFPB for “widespread illegal conduct”
The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has slapped a $15 million fine on online lender Enova and has also banned it from offering certain short-term loans.
Enova is to pay a $15m penalty to the CFPB
The regulator says the company has been charged for withdrawing funds from customers’ bank accounts without their permission, making deceptive statements about loans, and cancelling loan extensions.
In 2019, Enova paid a $3.2 million penalty to the CFPB with orders to put a stop to its illegal activities. Now, having violated the order, the regulator has banned the fintech from offering certain consumer loans, and ordered it to compensate more than 111,000 affected consumers.
Additionally, Enova will also be required to link executive pay to regulatory compliance.
In a statement, Enova says that it has reached an agreement with the CFPB, calling the allegations “consumer loan processing issues that arose from unintentional technical systems and processing errors which have since been addressed”, adding that a majority of the items were “self-reported” by the company.
“We served millions of customers and processed tens of millions of transactions during the period the CFPB selected,” states Ranning Li, president of consumer lending at Enova.
“While the items identified in this order represent a small fraction of our customers and transactions, we remain committed to treating customers fairly and enhancing business practices to reduce errors and address issues promptly.”
