Accessible Banking for All

Access to safe and affordable financial services is vital, especially among families with limited wealth, whether they are looking to invest in education, start a business, or simply manage the ups and downs of life.” Those words from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell resonate particularly strongly in our current crisis. Yet many people, especially people of color, lack such access to safe and affordable financial services. According to a 2017 FDIC survey, 25% of U.S. households are unbanked or underbanked. These are people who either don’t have a bank account, or have an account but still use financial services outside the banking system like payday loans to make ends meet. Most of the 25% consists of people of color. What role can our legal framework play in opening the door to the financial system for this population and advance diversity, equity and inclusiveness?

This program discusses how technological advances, particularly financial services providers’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) and alternative data in making decisions about consumers’ creditworthiness, hold both the promise of greater access and the threat of potential discrimination against people of color. They will provide an overview of the current legal framework, regulators’ recent activities and pronouncements, ongoing regulatory efforts to take account of emerging technologies and the key concerns regarding how to make safe and affordable financial services available to diverse communities.

Speakers

Dan Quan, Banks Street Advisory

Eric K. Ng, Esq., Pagaya

Chi Chi Wu, Esq., National Consumer Law Center

To-Quyen Truong, Esq., Stroock, Stroock and Lavan LLP