Currency Exchanges

In 2017, Woodstock Institute mobilized in response to the currency exchange industry petitioning the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) for an increase in the maximum rates exchanges could charge to cash a check. The increase would have had a direct, negative impact on communities least equipped to handle it. Unbanked consumers who are disproportionately low-income, Black, Latine, elderly, and/or people with disabilities, are most likely to rely on currency exchanges for check-cashing. 

Despite the lobbying resources of the industry, a coalition of consumer advocates was able to reach an agreement with the industry to substantially lessen the blow of the proposed rate hike and establish reforms to protect consumers from future rate hikes. 

The Check Cashing Fairness Act, which became law in August 2018, requires IDFPR to consider the impact of a rate hike on consumers and any potentially disproportionate impact on communities of color, older people, and other groups protected under the Human Rights Act. 

Our coalition partners included Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI), AARP Illinois, Illinois Asset Building Group/Heartland Alliance, and Chicago Urban League.