More Financial Access — More Than Ever
Per my usual ritual, I began the week by catching up on key credit union, banking and financial services sites to which I subscribe. (Granted, I’m a little behind). Today, a recent post on Credit Union Times particularly resonated with me.
Written by Abigail Truhart, Director of Advocacy for the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), the post is entitled “Diversity in the Raw: Furthering DEI & Financial Inclusion Through Advocacy.”
Strategically, Ms. Truhart’s goal is to both remind and inspire credit union leadership to support modernization of the Federal Credit Union Act. Pulled directly from the post, here is what the bill being drafted in Congress hopes to accomplish.
“CUNA is working closely with House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) to introduce the Expanding Financial Access for Underserved Communities Act. The bill would allow federal credit unions to add underserved areas to their field of membership and exempt business loans in low-income areas from the arbitrary member business lending cap.”
A key passage in the post stood out to me in particular.
“As we look beyond the pandemic, we know that access to capital will be critical to ensuring the survival of many of our nation’s most vulnerable small businesses, particularly women and minority-owned businesses. We also know that credit union lending is more inclusive; research from the Small Business Administration (SBA) showed that roughly 80% of credit union business loans are loans that banks would not make.”
Ms. Truhart’s message echoes one that Rubicon has been advocating for some time: That far too many people are dismissed by the financial industry-at-large and that CU’s provide a unique opportunity to recognize and serve those who fall outside what is “usual and customary.”
For your convenience, click here to read the full post in the Credit Union Times.
In addition, here are two Rubicon-generated posts from my LinkedIn account related to this important topic and the unique opportunity it presents for credit unions of all size and in every market.
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Hope that your year is off to a good start, everyone.
Corey A. Waite is a leading commercial real estate advisor to the financial services industry. As Founder and CEO of Rubicon Concierge Real Estate Services, Corey works directly with senior executives coast-to-coast to deliver strategic plans and transactional services focused on optimizing the needs of employees, clients and members.
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