In an op-ed appearing in Payments Dive on May 28, 2026, NCLC Senior Attorney Lauren Saunders explains that if the president wants to provide people relief from high-interest debt, he should lead a crackdown against high-cost credit schemes.
If Trump-appointed regulators approve Enova’s and OppFi’s applications to purchase small national banks, both could charge 100% APRs, or higher, without fear of being sued for evading state usury laws. Federal law allows national banks to charge any rate allowed in their home state.
Enova and OppFi’s predatory interest rates yield sizable returns for investors, but many borrowers default. Loan loss rates that consistently exceed 50% make clear a majority of these loans were never going to be affordable.
Approving these applications for national bank charters would greenlight these loans nationwide and expose borrowers in every state to online loan sharks, leaving consumers in despair.
President Trump should direct his financial regulators to reject the bank applications from Enova and OppFi to avoid rewarding companies with records of dragging borrowers into financial ruin.
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