OFN Applauds New Transparency Measures for Small Business Lending
New CFPB rules for data collection will strengthen the nation’s small business lending ecosystem
Yesterday the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a rule to increase transparency in small business lending. Lenders will collect and report to CFPB geographic, demographic and other data about the credit applications they receive.
Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) welcomes yesterday’s announcement. Collecting this data will facilitate enforcement of fair lending laws and better identify the credit needs of our nation’s small businesses, particularly the very small, rural, women and minority-owned businesses that face greater challenges in accessing credit.
“Greater transparency regarding our nation’s small business lending market is long-overdue” said Dafina Williams, OFN executive vice president of external affairs.
Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. They build communities and lift economies, and at some point, they all need access to capital. “Community development financial institutions play a critical role in providing affordable, responsible capital to businesses that cannot access traditional financing,” Williams said. “OFN stands ready to assist our members in complying with these new data collection requirements and learning from the information the CFPB will collect from all the nation’s small business lenders.”
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