The FDIC has released an updated financial inclusion strategic plan that calls on the agency to take steps to encourage bank lending, investments and services that support healthy communities, including in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and other underserved communities, FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg said today.
The FDIC first published a plan to guide its economic inclusion efforts in 2014. The plan was last updated five years ago. The 2024 update calls on the agency to help households achieve financial stability through the establishment of positive credit histories and the use of consumer credit from banks, along with insured savings accounts, Gruenberg said during a speech at an economic conference in Washington, D.C. As part of that effort, the plan identifies mortgages and small business lending from banks as important opportunities to build household wealth, he said. It also draws an “explicit connection” between the FDIC’s economic inclusion work and community development.
The agency will use a variety of tools to achieve the plan’s objectives, including outreach to bankers, financial education resources, communication to the public about the value of insured deposits and partnerships with community organizations, he said
