Social Media Money Laundering

How a bank charging 189% interest explains its business model

Photo by Mathias Reding on Unsplash

Scroll through the Twitter feed of Utah-based TAB Bank and you’ll see tweets about where the bank is going (to lots of trucking shows) and about how it is an industry innovator. There are stories about the bank’s partnerships with fintech lenders and pictures of their charitable work in Utah. Oh, and they offer a pretty great high yield savings account.

Here are some samples:

Sounds like a bank doing some great work, right? I mean, helping out the trucking industry, offering great savings rates, and partnering with fintech innovators to make banking easier.

Here’s the rest of the story. The partnerships TAB wants? Well, they really seem to enjoy the one with EasyPay Finance that results in loans with interest rates up to 189%.

Yes, you read that correctly. An FDIC-supervised bank (TAB) is helping facilitate loans with rates up to 189% with a predatory lender that makes loans for things like car repairs and puppy purchases.

Here’s more on how TAB is profiting handsomely by participating in predatory practices:

Predatory Auto Repair Loans Target Military Families | by Andy Spears | Jun, 2022 | Medium

“The Department of Defense studied high-interest loans like those issued by EasyPay Finance and TAB Bank and concluded they harmed troops and their families — and undermined military readiness,” said Nadine Chabrier…