The CFPB found that depository lenders had the highest amount of publicly available information about diversity and inclusion in the financial services sector. The CFPB’s report by its Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, based on publicly available data from 2019 of 270 entities, found that few organizations in financial services besides banks had either a dedicated diversity and inclusion executive or a formal body directing those efforts.
Banks also had the strongest showing in supplier diversity in the financial services sector, the CFPB said. Fifty-nine percent of sampled depository lenders had minority and women-owned business programs, according to the report, and the CFPB found that almost half of sampled banks published information on their diversity and inclusion strategic plans.
Many large organizations in financial services have invested in infrastructure and resources dedicated to diversity and inclusion programming, the CFPB said, adding that some small institutions have shown “impressive diversity and inclusion policies and programming.”
The CFPB said it plans to use the data collected as part of the report to provide examples of diversity and inclusion best practices, resources, and peer success stories to financial institutions.
