Online lending service Upstart Network has received a “no-action” letter from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the first such letter to be issued by the regulator, the CFPB announced yesterday.
Upstart Network requested the “no-action” letter. Companies can apply for a no-action letter from the CFPB if they are launching a new financial product. The letter acts as reassurance that the CFBP will not pursue regulatory action against Upstart, which uses alternative data for lending applications, should the lender issue new financial products. The letter states:
Staff has no present intention to recommend initiation of an enforcement or supervisory action against Upstart with regard to application of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)2 and its implementing regulation, Regulation B,3 to Upstart’s automated model for underwriting applicants for unsecured non-revolving credit, as that model is described in the Request and confidential Model Risk Management & Compliance Plan (“Compliance Plan”).
Following that assurance, Upstart will need to regularly report its lending and compliance data to the CFPB. The letter expires three years after it was issued, according to the office.
Read more at PYMNTs and the CFPB.