Five Trends That Made Banking More Equitable in 2024

Overall, 2024 saw the banking industry make notable shifts toward more equitable, inclusive, and community-centered practices. As we continue to call for vital beneficial changes in our financial landscape, let’s keep this momentum in mind in the face of the obstacles we anticipate ahead:

1. Alternative underwriting is gaining ground, with an increasing number of home and business lenders considering race-conscious approaches. Our Underwriting for Racial Justice initiative published a sample Special Purpose Credit Program that won praise from regulators and provides a roadmap.

2. National policy notched some wins in clarity, with the Department of the Treasury releasing a National Strategy for Financial Inclusion. We’re also proud to support Beneficial State Bank in taking a stand against bank lobby groups to advance Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) modernization efforts.

3. Sustainable finance is becoming prioritized as consumers and institutions alike can no longer ignore accelerating climate chaos. Amidst hurdles and slow progress, society continues to make the case for banks to have a climate strategy as the call for environmental transparency grows louder.

4. Ethical AI standards and practices continue to be developed and tested in real-time, with our partners and our team proactively convening financial institutions to discuss how to ensure that the use of emerging technologies helps to reduce rather than widen the racial homeownership and wealth gap.

5. Centering communities traditionally excluded from the benefits of financial services is increasingly recognized as critical to meeting business goals while staying true to missions. We joined convenings on financial inclusion, sharing best practices for empowering community (and employee) voices in banking.

Join us in shaping the future of equitable banking

As we at Beneficial State Foundation prepare to revise our Equitable Bank Standards, we invite you to share how you think financial institutions should improve by taking our short survey before December 3rd.

While we acknowledge the headwinds we may face in the years ahead, we are energized to know that the movement for banking that supports all of us, and not just some of us, continues to grow! (Don’t miss the strong example set in our partner Beneficial State Bank’s 2023 impact report.)