“Tech sprints,” innovation in expanding access to credit, enforcement settlements and outreach are all areas the federal consumer financial protection agency points to as highlights in its fair lending efforts in a report released Thursday.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathleen Kraninger wrote in the introduction to the bureau’s 2019 Fair Lending Report to Congress that “from supervision and enforcement to rulemaking, guidance and education, the Bureau is dedicated to using all the tools at its disposal to achieve our mission: fair, equitable, and nondiscriminatory access to credit markets for consumers and their communities.”
Kraninger pointed specifically to the bureau’s “request for information” regarding “Tech Sprints,” which she said were aimed at bringing “regulators, technologists, financial institutions, and subject matter experts from key stakeholders to collaboratively develop innovative solutions to clearly identified challenges.”
“We are excited to explore the use of Tech Sprints to encourage regulatory innovation and collaborate with stakeholders in developing viable solutions to regulatory compliance challenges,” she stated. “I hope to announce more about these efforts in the near future.”
Other efforts that the bureau highlights in its report, according to a release, include:
- Encouraging industry to explore innovative ways to expand access to credit in responsible ways, including through the use of alternative data, such as cash flow data, in credit underwriting.
- Continuing to enforce the federal fair lending laws under bureau jurisdiction and the announced settlement with one of the ten largest HMDA reporters nationwide for intentionally reporting inaccurate information.
- Engaging with stakeholders in what the bureau said were more than 60 outreach events to educate them about fair lending compliance and access to credit issues; and to hear views on the bureau’s work to inform its policy decisions.