Small Dollar Lending

credit unions hurricanes wildfires

Regulatory agencies encourage CUs to meet communities’ needs in response to CA wildfires and Hurricane Ida

Financial Inclusion
All four federal regulatory agencies – the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – have once again released separate joint statements encouraging financial institutions to “meet the financial services needs of their communities” in or near the two major disasters […]
Read More
credit unions

How CDFIs represent what is possible for underserved communities

Financial Inclusion
“CDFIs, at the heart of it, are community lenders. If you think about where banks step out, CDFIs step in. They deliver responsible capital where it is needed in a very place-based, community-first approach. Most CDFIs are nonprofits and there is tremendous alignment around ensuring their borrowers are successful. They win when community wins.”  Catherine Berman, […]
Read More

How Your Credit Union Can Join the Fight for Financial Inclusion

Financial Health
The fight for greater financial inclusion and stability in America has begun for millions of consumers following the pandemic that has pervaded industries, neighborhoods, and families in fundamental ways.  According to Pew Research in March 2021, about 50 percent of all adults who are not retired claim the pandemic has made it harder for them to reach […]
Read More

Access to Small Dollar Lending Increases with Financial Inclusion Bill

Financial Inclusion
Financial access to America’s economically underserved communities may have just received a big legislative boost.  The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) wrote a letter to the House Financial Services Committee leadership on June 8, 2021, fully backing the proposed Expanding Financial Access for Underserved Communities Act, an amendment to the Federal Credit Union Act. During the May hearing, […]
Read More

Why CDFIs Are Exactly What Consumers Need Right Now

Financial Inclusion
In early April of this year, NPR ran a story on the underbanked and what it meant to run one’s financial life outside the American banking system. Whether it’s the perception of higher fees, lack of trust, or something else, 63 million underbanked or unbanked Americans do not use a financial institution to save money, cash checks, apply for […]
Read More