CFPB exercises power to supervise installment lender World Acceptance

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced its first use of a dormant legal provision allowing it to establish supervisory authority over more nonbank financial companies.

Installment lender World Acceptance Corp. was subject to the agency’s first supervisory designation order announced Friday. The CFPB said in a press release it published the order to “provide transparency about how it assesses risks using consumer complaints and other factors.”

In April 2022, the CFPB warned it was looking to increase its examination authority over nonbanks to “level the playing field” between banks and them. The agency’s director, Rohit Chopra, cited the rapid growth of these companies as reason to ensure proper supervision and prevent harm to consumers.