Featured
ILSR Responds to the CFPB’s Proposed Guardrails for Digital Banking
Katy Milani
January 24, 2024
ILSR supports the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposed “open banking” rule to establish important guardrails for digital banking. But it needs additional provisions to ensure that smaller, relationship-oriented financial institutions can access fair competition. READ MORE
ILSR Comment Letter Raises Concerns about Big Tech’s Expansion into Finance
Katy Milani
December 16, 2021
In a comment letter to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, ILSR raised several areas of concern that the agency should examine as part of its inquiry Into Big Tech payment platforms. READ MORE
Senate Testimony: Concentration is at the Root of Rural Distress
Katy Milani
April 27, 2021
The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs invited Co-Director Stacy Mitchell to testify at its April 20th hearing on the state of the rural economy. Stacy spoke on why rural America is in crisis and attributed the widening gap between struggling rural towns and coastal supercities to the concentration of corporate and financial power. READ MORE
Our Guide Gives State and Local Leaders Tools to Fight Corporate Monopolies
Jess Del Fiacco
July 15, 2020
As state and local leaders grapple with how to create a true recovery — one that lifts wages, fosters small businesses, and rebalances power — combating outsized corporate power is a key strategy. Check out ILSR's guide to antimonopoly policies for states and cities. READ MORE
Report: Fewer Small Businesses are Receiving Federal Relief Loans in States Dominated by Big Banks
April 29, 2020
A significantly larger number of federal relief loans are reaching small businesses in states where small, local banks comprise a greater share of the market, compared to states where big banks are more dominant, an ILSR analysis has found. READ MORE
Op-Ed in Fortune: The Hidden Price of Cashless Retail
April 3, 2019
In Fortune, we detail the growing cashless retail trend, steps cities and states are taking to regulate it, and the ultimate effect monopoly credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard have on small businesses and the economy at large. READ MORE
How One State Escaped Wall Street's Rule and Created a Banking System That's 83% Locally Owned
September 1, 2015
North Dakota has a different kind of banking sector than the rest of the country does, with six times as many locally owned financial institutions per person as the rest of the U.S., and local institutions controlling 83 percent of the market. What is North Dakota doing differently? A lot of the answer is the Bank of North Dakota. READ MORE