An Ohio lawmaker this week reintroduced legislation to codify a Treasury Department program that pairs small and rural financial institutions with large banks and credit unions to provide resources, training and technical assistance for their communities.
The Advancing the Mentor Protégé Program for Small Financial Institutions Act (H.R. 3709) by Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) would codify into law the Financial Agent Mentor-Protégé Program, which was started in 2018 to create relationships between the largest commercial banks as mentors and small banks as protégés.
In a statement, Beatty noted there are currently 151 Minority Deposit Institution banks in the U.S., and the number of minority-owned banks has fell by more than 30% since its peak in 2008.
“These institutions know the financial needs of their communities best, and codifying the mentor-protégé program at Treasury will go a long way toward preserving and strengthening their impact across America – and advancing our mission of an inclusive financial system,” Beatty said.
The American Bankers Association supports the bill. It would increase the ability of community banks, rural financial institutions and MDIs to meet the financial service needs of their customers, clients and communities, ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols said.
“By strengthening partnerships between large banks and these community financial institutions with the help of the Treasury Department, this bill will provide significant benefit to consumers across the country and the broader economy,” Nichols said.
