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Who Pays the Price? Overdraft Fee Ceilings and the Unbanked
Would capping overdraft fees increase financial inclusion? Studying an event in which caps were relaxed, we find banks raised overdraft fees but also expanded overdraft coverage and deposit supply, leading more low-income households to open accounts. While inattentive depositors may not benefit from being banked, the rise in account ownership persists, suggesting newly banked households valued their account even after learning about its costs. We find no evidence that being banked weakens households’ broader credit health, including delinquency, indebtedness, and credit scores. We conclude ...
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Less for You, More for Me: Credit Reallocation and Rationing Under Usury Limits
Many states have capped consumer loan interest rates to protect households from high-cost lenders. Using triple-difference and event study analysis, we investigate how these usury limits affect the availability and allocation of credit across households. Consistent with standard price theory, we find that credit to the riskiest borrowers contracts under usury limits without improving delinquencies. More surprisingly, credit to lower risk borrowers expands under usury limits. This reallocation suggests that usury limits have unintended effects that are not entirely explained by standard theory.