US banks stop selling account data to payday lenders

New York

US BANKS are cutting off payday lenders' access to a database of account information used to evaluate potential borrowers as regulators seek to rein in abusive practices.

About half the people with bank accounts in the US are tracked by Early Warning Services, owned by five of the nation's biggest banks. Some payday lenders use Early Warning data rather than credit reports to select borrowers, according to four people with direct knowledge of the practice who asked not to be named because the arrangements are private.