The Supreme Court's ruling on affirmative action in higher education has opened the door to challenges of diversity initiatives in the financial services sector, legal experts say. Internship programs for minority students could face scrutiny, as could efforts to increase workforce diversity.

Eligible customers would receive a credit of up to $5,000 that can be put toward expenses like closing costs, or used to secure a lower interest rate. It's the latest example of a bank launching a program aimed at extending credit to minority borrowers.

Deborah Donnelly, senior program manager of talent and performance at BECU in Washington state, has prioritized training the next generation of professionals in each position she's held.

While 48% of hiring managers admit to having bias, 68% think that AI could be the key to removing it from the hiring process.

Eligible borrowers would receive a credit for up to $5,000 to pay for expenses like insurance, taxes and closing costs. The program comes months after fair-lending advocacy groups criticized KeyBank for its low rate of lending to Black borrowers.

The company directed its bilingual team to steer customers away from products with no closing costs toward "predatory lending options" without disclosing the costs, in part by refusing to provide Spanish-language written materials, according to a lawsuit filed by current and former members of the company's bilingual mortgage sales team.

Few large banks fully support the Spanish language. Those making the effort, including U.S. Bank and Square, could better reach a fast-growing population.

Under a 2-year-old program, homebuyers receive grants of up to $5,000 for down payments and closing costs. JPMorgan Chase said the latest expansion — to some new 3,000 census tracts in 16 U.S. markets — may help an additional 1,000 customers obtain mortgages.

A Florida pension fund is demanding the bank turn over files about a possible criminal probe into whether the bank violated federal law by setting up fake job interviews to meet in-house diversity guidelines. 

JPMorgan Chase, Regions Financial and TD Bank Group are among those deploying technology to level the playing field for customers of varied abilities.