Fair and Accessible Lending Practices

"Fair lending" has become an important topic—and concern—for financial institutions. The concern isn't just limited to consumer lending, but to small business lending as well. But what does the term "fair lending" mean and how do financial institutions achieve it? A generally accepted definition states that fair lending "guarantees the same lending opportunities to everyone" by "prohibiting lenders from considering race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability when applying for loans."

To help financial institutions understand the importance of the issue in order to meet the criteria of fair, and accessible, lending for small business owners, this session will address how banks and credit unions can use new technologies and new data sources to profitably expand the scope of their lending effort to traditionally underserved small business populations.