The Main Street Lending Program and other Federal Reserve loan facilities should be tailored to the needs of Black-owned banks and businesses.

In the tech-centric payments industry, the number of women in C-suite roles is rising after decades of incremental progress, but the path to leadership for Black people in the payments industry remains steep and lonely.

Christina O’Brien has worked at the Warner Robins, Ga.-based credit union for almost 30 years in a variety of roles.

The company seeks to help funnel more loans to minority businesses and consumers; the regulator says short-staffed banks are having trouble handling new government programs.

The New York State Department of Financial Services issued a letter Tuesday reminding lenders of amendments to the state's Community Reinvestment Act, under which banks are evaluated on how they meet the credit needs of businesses owned by women and minorities.

Amex is offering cash rewards on a global scale for customers who shop at small businesses that are trying to recover from coronavirus lockdowns. The card brand also pledged $10 million to support Black-owned small businesses over the next four years.

JPMorgan Chase is cracking down on racism by its customers. The bank is revamping a policy for dealing with abusive clients to include racism toward call-center employees as behavior that could warrant cutting ties with the customers.

Mastercard Inc. vowed to improve the diversity of its leadership ranks, saying it plans to increase the number of Black leaders at the vice president level and above by 50% by 2025.

The Fed stopped short of banning payouts entirely following bank stress tests; banks get greater freedom to invest in venture capital funds and reduced collateral on swap trades.

VCs and lenders rely on business data such as transaction records to inform funding decisions for fintechs or small businesses, but bias and uneven representation in management still result in gender and racial disparity.