Enova CashNetUSA Bid for Grasshopper Bank Opposed by FFW Despite CFPB Reversal

Enova CashNetUSA Bid for Grasshopper Bank Opposed by FFW Despite CFPB Reversal by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack SOUTH BRONX/SDNY, Feb 17 – Amid the FDIC's bid to eliminate public notice of and public comment on branch applications, the Federal Reserve and OCC are entertaining applications by Enova, the parent of high cost lender CashNetUSA, to acquire Grasshopper Bank, already deeply engaged in AI banking. Fair Finance Watch filed:   "opposition to the applications of Enova, parent of the high-cost payday lender CashNetUSA, to become a national by seeking to acquire Grasshopper Bank.    To allow a payday lender already fined by the CFPB to become a bank would be a new low.     "Enova used bank account information it had purchased from online lead generators, overwriting the bank account information that borrowers had authorized Enova to use... Enova cancelled loan extensions it had granted to certain consumers and in most instances debited such consumers’ bank accounts for the full loan payment instead of only a smaller loan extension fee" etc   Now they want (to become) a national bank? Public hearings are necessary.  Combine this with Grasshopper's use of artificial intelligence in banking - a topic not yet scrutinize enough by the regulators, see for example Fifth Third and Brex, with Brex now being acquired by Capital One - and the need for public hearings on this CashNetUSA/Enova - Grasshopper (AI) proposal is all the more clear.  The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago confirmed receipt and and sent FFW its Additional Information letter - with each and every question withheld. So this FOIA has been filed: "This is an immediate FOIA request for the AI letter the FRB of Chicago sent to Enova, owner of payday lender CashNetUSA, on its application to acquire Grasshopper Bank.  All of the AI question have been withheld...the entirety of this AI letter should not have been withheld during the comment period.  Here, the Enova AI must released during the comment period, or the comment period extended." On February 13, still without docuemnts, Enova wrote it bragging that "Enova fulfilled its obligations under the CFPB consent orders referenced in Fair Finance Watch’s letter. Enova paid civil money penalties, provided for customer remediation, and enhanced controls as required by the orders. As a result, the CFPB terminated the consent orders pursuant to its authority under 12 U.S.C. § 5563(b)(3).2- in July 2025  - See Enova's response on Inner City Press' DocumentCloud here And here it was:  CFPB, Press Release, CFPB Fines Repeat Offender Enova $15 Million for Violating Order, Deceiving Customers, and Withdrawing Funds Without Consent (Nov. 15, 2023 See, e.g., Sept 10, 2025: https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/the-fdic-is-undercutting-a-key-element-of-the-cra    But now the Federal regulator(s) blithely propose(s) to eliminate public notice and public comment on banks' proposals to expand.  The above-quoted reasoning is that few comments are filed. So, that is now changing. *** Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron. Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com SDNY Press Room 500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station, NY NY 10013 Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.  Copyright 2006-2026 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com