“It is clear just a few weeks into the Biden administration that fair lending and racial equity will return as a central focus of regulators under President Joe Biden.”

“A growing consensus that the CFPB should create regulations on ensuring consumers’ safe sharing of their bank data with finance apps, such as Venmo and Mint, isn’t making the agency’s job any easier.”

We recognize the breadth of urgent issues facing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the nation at this time, but believe that resolving critical questions about access to financial data would substantially benefit consumers, small businesses, and financial services providers in helping to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, address longstanding racial wealth gaps, and make U.S. financial systems more generally inclusive, competitive, and responsive to customer needs.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued an advisory opinion concerning the establishment of special purpose credit programs to meet the needs of underserved groups consistent with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. It is the Bureau’s first action following on a Request for Information about ECOA issues earlier in 2020.

“For decades, numerous academics, consumer advocates, and legislators have pointed out the importance of consumer credit scores on individuals’ ability not only to obtain credit, but also on housing and loan affordability.”

“The New York fintech startup Harvest began offering a new credit score Thursday that uses artificial intelligence to take into account cash flow, spending habits and financial discipline alongside traditional scoring data to help lenders determine if a potential borrower is creditworthy.”

“How should financial regulators shape their response to the COVID-19 pandemic in overseeing microfinance institutions (MFIs)? What factors should they consider to help poor people and micro- and small enterprises survive the crisis?”

In many smaller American towns banks and credit unions are finding usual sources of loan demand dwindling — and that was before the COVID-19 recession. Community banking institutions may find trouble if they market their credit services further afield. The solution may be to dig deeper for loans in the communities they already know, marketing loans to be evaluated with new alternative data sources (like some fintechs do).

“New York, long the hub of the financial world and an early epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, is looking to innovative financial technologies as one source to help its pandemic-battered economy.”

“A federal stimulus program to combat the recent economic downturn is pushing more community banks to embrace financial technology partnerships.”