Minutes 

of 

The Meeting of the FDIC Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion 

of the 

Held in the Board Room 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Building 

Washington, D.C. 

Open to Public Observation Via Webcast 

October 22, 2020 – 1:00 P.M. 

The meeting of the FDIC Advisory Committee on Economic 

Inclusion (“ComE-IN” or “Committee”) was called to order by 

Jelena McWilliams, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“Corporation” or “FDIC”). 

The members of ComE-IN present at the meeting were Michael 

S. Barr, Dean, Ford School of Public Policy, University of

Michigan Law School; Raphael Bostic, President and CEO, Federal

Reserve Bank of Atlanta; Naomi Camper, Chief Policy Officer,

American Bankers Association; José Cisneros, Treasurer, City and

County of San Francisco; Martin Eakes, Chief Executive Officer,

Self-Help Credit Union; Maurice Jones, President and CEO, Local

Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC); Margaret Libby,

President, MyPath; Alden J. McDonald, Jr., President and CEO,

Liberty Bank and Trust Company, New Orleans, Louisiana; Lisa

Mensah, President and CEO, Opportunity Finance Network; Jonathan

Mintz, President and CEO, Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund;

Pamela Patenaude, Moultonborough, New Hampshire; Jennifer

Tescher, President and CEO, Financial Health Network; and

Christina Tetreault, Senior Policy Counsel, Consumer Reports.

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October 22, 2020 

 Members of the Corporation’s Board of Directors present at 

the meeting were Jelena McWilliams, Chairman, and Martin J. 

Gruenberg, Director. Jonathan Miller, Designated Federal 

Officer for the Committee and Deputy Director, Division of 

Depositor and Consumer Protection, also was present at the 

meeting and moderated the proceedings. 

 Corporation staff who attended the meeting included Leonard 

N. Chanin, Karyen Chu, Kymberly K. Copa, Chad R. Davis, Keith S. 

Ernst, Shannon N. Greco, Patricia S. Gurneau, Arleas Upton Kea, 

Mark J. Kutzbach, Brandon Milhorn, Jonathan N. Miller, Arthur J. 

Murton, Mark E. Pearce, Nikita Pearson, Betty J. Rudolph, David 

L. Sharp, Mona L. Thomas, Sam R. Waxenbaum, and Jeffrey 

Weinstein. 

 Chairman McWilliams opened and presided at the meeting. 

Chairman McWilliams welcomed participants to the meeting. She 

began by thanking the participants for joining virtually. 

Chairman McWilliams noted the importance of discussing financial 

inclusion issues that are especially relevant for low and 

moderate income communities considering the impact that the 

pandemic has had on the wage labor market and among communities 

of color. Chairman McWilliams next introduced the new Committee 

Members: Naomi Camper, Chief Policy Officer of the American 

Bankers Association (“ABA”); Lisa Mensah, President and CEO of 

the Opportunity Finance Network (“OFN”); Jennifer Tescher, 

President and CEO of the Financial Health Network (“FHN”); and 

Christina Tetreault, Senior Policy Counsel at Consumer Reports. 

Next, Chairman McWilliams asked Director Gruenberg if he 

would like to make any comments. Director Gruenberg welcomed 

and thanked everyone for taking the time to attend the meeting. 

He mentioned that the meeting would be focused on access to the 

banking system and how this affects people most severely and 

disproportionately impacted by the current pandemic and economic 

crisis. 

Then Chairman McWilliams turned the discussion over to 

Jonathan Miller, Deputy Director, FDIC Division of Depositor and 

Consumer Protection (“DCP”), moderator for the meeting. 

Mr. Miller described the first session, the Members 

Roundtable, as an opportunity for Committee members to describe 

a challenge or an issue they may be facing in their communities 

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October 22, 2020 

or in their organizations. 

Mr. Miller then invited Member Barr to share his thoughts. 

Member Barr began the discussion by noting that the current 

public health crisis posed uniquely difficult challenges to 

communities of color in the areas of health, small businesses, 

employment, and education. Member Barr highlighted the 

difficulty minority-owned small businesses had getting Paycheck 

Protection Program (“PPP”) loans. Member Barr also expressed 

optimism at the Federal Reserve Board’s (“FRB”) approach to 

Community Re-investment Act (“CRA”) reforms. Further, Member 

Barr expressed worries about commercial real estate and its 

effect on community banks during economic downturns. In 

addition, Member Barr cited concerns with payment systems not 

properly serving communities of color and the unbanked; he cited 

slow or missing payments to low-income communities during the 

early months of the pandemic. Finally, Member Barr stated that 

affirmative steps need to be taken to ensure Community 

Development Financial Institutions (“CDFIs”) and Minority 

Depository Institutions (“MDIs”) are able to partake in the 

benefits offered by fintech innovation. 

Member Bostic began his remarks by agreeing with Member 

Barr on CRA reform and the need for input from outside groups on 

the process. Member Bostic further agreed that community banks 

need to engage with emerging technologies. Member Bostic noted 

that there were two more topics he wished to discuss: 1.) 

workforce development as addressed by the Advancing Careers for 

Low Income Families Initiative; and 2.) the macroeconomic 

effects of racism as it impacts employment, education, health, 

housing, wealth, financial services, and criminal justice. 

Finally, Member Bostic commented on the importance of building 

coalitions with new participants. 

 Next, Mr. Miller invited Member Camper to share her 

thoughts. Member Camper first spoke about how funneling 

government COVID-19 stimulus payments through banks and the 

process of PPP loan distribution highlighted the challenges 

faced by those who did not have pre-existing relationships with 

banks. Member Camper stated that increasing public awareness of 

available relief programs (and the fraud schemes that have 

developed around them) could make a large difference in how 

people are able to manage their finances through our current 

public health crisis. 

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Mr. Miller thanked Member Camper for recognizing the 

Committee’s work and then directed Member Cisneros to begin his 

comments. Member Cisneros focused his commentary on San 

Francisco’s response to the pandemic. Member Cisneros spoke 

about the economic recovery task force assembled by the mayor of 

San Francisco that had developed 41 recommendations for how the 

city can support struggling businesses. At the same time, Member 

Cisneros commented on a local survey conducted with the 

California Reinvestment Coalition that aimed to see how local 

banks and credit unions were supporting their customers. The 

survey found that not all institutions were offering relief to 

customers during the ongoing public health crisis and those that 

did make relief available did not always clearly communicate 

those services to their customers. 

Member Cisneros commented on “hidden obstacles” that kept 

individuals from achieving financial success. These obstacles 

included hidden negative records in their check systems or early 

warning system records, though a fair number of these records 

were erroneous. Member Cisneros encouraged reform of the check 

systems and banking record systems culture in order to make it 

more similar to the credit reporting systems with greater 

transparency. Finally, Member Cisneros spoke about the creation 

of income replacement projects and the basic income project that 

the mayor of San Francisco announced to support over 100 

artists. 

Mr. Miller thanked Member Cisneros for his commentary and 

then directed Member Eakes to begin his remarks. Member Eakes 

began his comments by thanking Chairman McWilliams and Director 

Gruenberg for convening the group. Member Eakes stated that 

there are currently three crises challenging the country: a 

public health crisis, a job and recession crisis, and a racial 

justice crisis. Acknowledging there were problems with PPP, 

Member Eakes nevertheless praised the program and the $187 

million of loans made available for banks that he worked with. 

Member Eakes stated his belief that the True Lender Rule could 

allow predatory lenders to export their products nationwide. 

Member Eakes stated that the Committee’s charge to close the 

racial wealth gap was greater than ever, but believed that this 

group would be able to push forward on these issues during this 

challenging time. 

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Mr. Miller thanked Member Eakes for his presentation and 

asked Member Jones to begin his statement. Member Jones stated 

that he agreed with what the panel members before him had said. 

Member Jones wanted to use his time to discuss LISC’s Black 

Economic Development Fund, a fund designed to invest in 

minority-led depository institutions, credit unions, and CDFIs 

in order to serve minority-led businesses. Member Jones stated 

his hope that more private sector enterprises will invest in 

minority-owned institutions as the Committee addresses the three 

challenges highlighted by Member Eakes. 

Mr. Miller congratulated Member Jones on his initiative 

before asking Member Libby to begin her remarks. Member Libby 

began by agreeing with previous members about their commentary 

on how COVID-19, the economy, and the racial justice movements 

have affected the communities they care about; she wanted to go 

further and shift the focus onto how these challenges are 

affecting the youth. Member Libby stated that young adults 

between 14-24 years old might experience setbacks they cannot 

recover from without the Committee’s actions on these issues. 

Member Libby continued, stating that COVID was providing unique 

challenges to the mental and financial health of Black and Brown 

youth. Member Libby shared how MyPath was working with Black and 

Brown technology companies to engage, educate, and support Black 

and Brown youth in order to get them involved with the banking 

system. Member Libby echoed Member Cisneros’ concerns regarding 

check system reform to ensure youth can get access to the 

banking system and the benefits that come with that access. 

Mr. Miller thanked Member Libby for her commentary and 

asked Member McDonald to begin his statement. Member McDonald 

began by welcoming the new Committee members and stating his 

frustration with a changed focus on several items the Committee 

has addressed. In the current public health crisis, Member 

McDonald highlighted some areas of concern: slow rebounds for 

minority-owned small businesses, increased housing costs, 

increased escrow, rising insurance costs, payday lending 

concerns sparked by fintech companies, fraud in fintech, and CRA 

reform. Member McDonald stated his belief that restarting the 

economy would be difficult, and that minority communities are 

likely to take longer to recover. Member McDonald noted that 

partnerships, like those with LISC would likely develop to 

address these challenges. Finally, Member McDonald highlighted 

the challenges that minority-communities faced with remote 

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learning and expressed his belief that there would be lasting 

setbacks that this Committee could try to address with financial 

education efforts. 

Mr. Miller thanked Member McDonald for his commentary and 

recognized Member Mensah to begin her remarks. Member Mensah 

began by bringing attention to OFN’s upcoming virtual event, the 

Financial Justice annual conference. Member Mensah argued that 

CDFIs have a strong basis of experience but their small size 

challenges their ability to respond to the current crisis. 

Because of this, Member Mensah stated that new partnerships have 

been a surprising and welcome source of support for CDFIs. She 

noted that there is demand for the services of CDFIs and that 

expanding CDFI appropriations will help these institutions to 

extend services into sole proprietorships, native reservations, 

and communities of deeply persistent poverty. 

Mr. Miller thanked Member Mensah for her insight before 

asking Member Mintz to give his remarks. Member Mintz began by 

observing that the public health crisis had really put the 

importance of access to mainstream banking in the public 

consciousness. Member Mintz expressed his gratitude for the work 

done by the IRS and FDIC to allow unbanked individuals to 

receive stimulus payments. The ability to create accounts 

entirely online is a functionality that Member Mintz argued 

needs support in light of the fact that the accounts are 

affordable and sustainable. Member Mintz noted the increased 

online traffic that the CFE Fund has seen in response to the 

ABA’s push for safe banking options. Furthermore, Member Mintz 

was encouraged by local governments putting forward financial 

counseling services as part of their COVID response. 

Mr. Miller thanked Member Mintz for his comments and stated 

that the FDIC values its partnership with his organization. 

Member Patenaude spoke next, stating that she would focus her 

commentary on how COVID has hampered long-term recovery efforts 

in Puerto Rico. Member Patenaude highlighted the small fraction 

of funds held by HUD that have been spent since Hurricane Maria 

to help with recovery on the island. Increased housing costs 

also concerned Member Patenaude. In addition, Member Patendaude 

brought up a lack of skilled labor, but emphasized that there is 

an opportunity there that organizations, like the Homebuilders 

Institute, where she serves on the board, have focused on 

providing training in the construction industry. 

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October 22, 2020 

Mr. Miller thanked Member Patenaude for her remarks and 

turned the conversation over to Member Tescher. Member Tescher 

expressed her thanks for the invitation to join the Committee 

and agreed with many points emphasized by other members. Member 

Tescher highlighted issues the current crisis made clear to her, 

including: the difficulty of getting stimulus payments to the 

unbanked, large institutions offering small-dollar credit 

products, anti-competitive behavior in big-tech, unresponsive 

tech vendors for small community banks, and racial equity. 

Member Tescher expressed her concern that there was a lack of 

safe places for dialogues about how racism effects the economy 

within the banking industry. Finally, Member Tescher highlighted 

the challenge bankers face understanding racial disparities 

faced by their customers due to fair lending rules curtailing 

certain types of data gathering. 

Mr. Miller thanked Member Tescher for her statement before 

turning to the final member, Member Tetrault. Member Tetrault’s 

commentary focused on two areas: Consumer Reports' research on 

the financial impacts of the pandemic and the role of digital 

finance during the pandemic. Member Tetrault stated that data on 

COVID’s financial impact revealed that the pandemic was 

worsening pre-existing financial inequities. Member Tetrault 

stated that, due to systemic racism, people of color were more 

vulnerable to the economic impacts of COVID. Consumer Reports 

found that families that were doing well before the pandemic and 

did not suffer job losses have been able to continue saving 

while families that suffered financial hardships at the start of 

the pandemic have faced increasing hardships. Member Tetrault 

further communicated the difficulty consumers have faced 

handling debts during the pandemic, even with federal 

forbearance put in place. Member Tetrault moved onto discussing 

digital finance and several reports that had found an increase 

in fraud schemes through digital financial apps like Venmo and 

Cash App. Member Tetrault believed there is an opportunity for 

payment law to help protect victims who normally cannot recover 

after being tricked into authorizing payments to scammers. In 

the interest of time, Member Tetrault ceded her time back to Mr. 

Miller. 

Before moving into the next panel and introducing Karyen 

Chu, Chief, Banking and Consumer Research, FDIC Division of 

Insurance and Research (DIR), as moderator of the “2019 FDIC 

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Survey Results: How America Banks”, Mr. Miller noted that 

members had been previously provided with more extensive 

biographies of all of the speakers in materials. Introducing Ms. 

Chu, Mr. Miller stated that Ms. Chu and her team conduct 

consumer finance research, including work on the FDIC survey, 

and research for publication in academic journals and analysis 

that supports a wide range of FDIC policymaking. 

Ms. Chu advised that the panel would present an overview of 

the 2019 FDIC Survey, noting that the survey is conducted 

annually in conjunction with the United States Census Bureau; 

that the most recent survey was conducted in June of 2019 and 

collected responses from almost 33,000 households; and that the 

survey seeks to gather information from both banked and unbanked 

households regarding financial products and services that they 

use to meet their core banking needs including bank credit union 

accounts, prepaid cards and non-bank financial transaction 

services and bank and non-bank credit. She stated that the 2019 

survey draws representative samples from all 50 states and the 

District of Columbia, allowing for the production of estimates 

at national and state levels. Ms. Chu then acknowledged that 

because the survey results reflect a period of generally 

favorable economic conditions, and in light of the extraordinary 

disruptions caused by the pandemic, the survey includes a 

postscript that addresses possible consequences for the unbanked 

rate and discusses pandemic related challenges faced by 

households in conducting financial transactions. Ms. Chu then 

turned the presentation over to Jeffrey Weinstein, Senior 

Financial Economist in DIR to begin discussing the survey 

results. 

Mr. Weinstein began his remarks by providing an overview of 

the remainder of the presentation to include bank account 

ownership for unbanked and banked households, non-bank financial 

transaction services, bank and non-bank credit, saving for 

unexpected expenses or emergencies, the postscript that Ms. Chu 

had previously described, and the economicinclusion.gov website. 

He reported that in 2019, nearly 95 percent of U.S. 

households were banked, meaning that at least one member of the 

household had a bank or credit union account, which represents 

the highest number and percentage of households with bank 

accounts since the survey was first conducted in 2009; that the 

1.1 percent decrease in the unbanked rate between 2017 and 2019 

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October 22, 2020 

corresponds to an increase of approximately 1.5 million banked 

households between 2017 and 2019; and that nearly half of the 

decline in the unbanked rate between 2017 and 2019 was 

associated with improvements in the socioeconomic circumstances 

of U.S. households. 

He noted that unbanked rates continue to vary considerably 

across the U.S. population, with higher unbanked rates among 

lower-income households, less educated households, black and 

Hispanic households, households headed by a working-age 

individual with a disability, and households with volatile 

income; that the unbanked rates for black and Hispanic 

households sharply declined in recent years, but remained 

substantially higher than the white unbanked rate; that the 

unbanked rates by state were highest in the South, but that 

differences in unbanked rates between the South and the 

Northeast, Midwest, and West, have narrowed in recent years; and 

that, among unbanked households in 2019, about 50.4 percent, had 

previously had a bank account at some point in the past, which 

was slightly higher than the percent of households previously 

banked in 2017. 

Mr. Weinstein explained that 56.2 percent of unbanked 

households were not at all interested in having a bank account, 

while 24.8 percent were very or somewhat interested in having an 

account; that about 31.7 percent of unbanked households that had 

previously been banked, were very or somewhat interested in 

having an account, compared with approximately 17.9 percent of 

unbanked households that had never been banked, about 17.9 

percent; and that, for households that were unbanked in 2019, 

but last had a bank account sometime within the past 12 months, 

48.8 percent, were very or somewhat interested in having an 

account. Mr. Weinstein reported that 48.9 percent of unbanked 

households cited inability to meet minimum balance requirements 

most frequently as a reason for not having an account; that 

mistrust of banks was cited by approximately one third of 

unbanked households as a reason for not having an account and 

was the second most cited reason; and that a high proportion, 

approximately 27 percent, of unbanked households that were very 

or somewhat interested in having a bank account cited personal 

identification credit or former bank account problems. Mr. 

Weinstein advised that the 2019 survey included new questions 

for unbanked households that asked about their satisfaction with 

their most recent bank and their perceptions of how clearly 

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banks, in general, communicate account fees. He reported that, 

among unbanked households that had previously been banked, 55.1 

percent were very or somewhat satisfied with their most recent 

bank, and 46.8 percent thought banks communicated account fees 

very or somewhat clearly; and that interest in having a bank 

account was higher among unbanked households that were very or 

somewhat satisfied with their most recent bank. 

 

Mr. Weinstein then paused for a question from Member 

Tescher, who asked whether respondents using prepaid card were 

counted as unbanked or banked to which Mr. Weinstein responded 

that the survey did not treat them as banked, noting that the 

report separately tabulated whether a household used a prepaid 

card across both banked and unbanked households, where banked 

and unbanked is dependent upon having or not having an account 

at a bank or credit union. In response to a follow up question 

regarding prepaid card use from Member Tescher, Ms. Chu advised 

that 27.7 percent of unbanked households had a prepaid card in 

2019. 

Committee members continued to raise a number of questions 

regarding Mr. Weinstein’s presentation. Member Mintz asked 

about the 2019 survey’s approach to the issue of underbanked 

households. In response, Ms. Chu advised that the 2019 does not 

categorize households as being underbanked, but examines 

separately the different non-bank transaction products and 

services to provide more granularity as well as additional 

information on the frequency of use of these non-bank 

transaction services to allow for better segmentation of the 

underbanked category. Member Bostic asked if there was any 

information to account for the increase in the number of 

unbanked persons amongst Native Americans. Mr. Weinstein 

responded that the sample size tends to be smaller for American 

Indian or Alaska Native households and that larger sample size 

would need to be examined for statistically significant results. 

Returning to the presentation, Mr. Weinstein discussed the 

survey findings on bank account access methods in the past 12 

months, noting that mobile banking use continued to increase; 

that the use of online banking declined considerably, from 36 

percent to 22.8 percent; that the use of bank tellers to access 

accounts declined modestly; and that access methods varied 

across household demographics. He also noted that 83 percent of 

banked households spoke with a teller or other employee in 

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person at a bank branch, that is, visited a bank branch at least 

once in the past 12 months, which represented a slight decrease 

from 2017; and that bank branch visits were prevalent even among 

banked households that used online or mobile banking as their 

primary method of account access. He explained that the survey 

included new questions that asked banked households about their 

satisfaction with their primary bank and their perceptions of 

how clearly their bank communicates account fees, reporting that 

almost all banked households were satisfied with their primary 

bank and thought that their bank communicated account fees 

clearly; that satisfaction and perceptions of clarity on fees 

were consistently high across different population segments; and 

that households where income varied a lot from month to month 

were the population segment with the lowest satisfaction and the 

lowest perception of clarity on fees. 

Beginning his presentation by discussing the use of nonbank financial transaction services (NFTS) in the past 12 

months, Mark Kutzbach, Senior Financial Economist, DIR, advised 

that the survey has categorized these services as nonbank money 

orders, nonbank check cashing, and nonbank international 

remittances. He also reported that the survey included new 

questions on the use of bill payment services, such as Western 

Union or Moneygram, peer-to-peer (P2P) services, such as Paypal 

or Venmo, NFTS in the past 12 months. Mr. Kutzbach reported that 

the use of money orders, check cashing, and bill payment 

services was higher among lower income, less educated, younger 

Black, Hispanic, and American Indian or Alaska Native households 

and households that had volatile income from month to month. He 

also reported that the use of peer-to-peer services was higher 

among households with income over $75,000 a year, college 

educated households, and younger and middle aged households. Mr. 

Kutzbach noted that, from 2017 to 2019, money orders and check 

cashing declined in use, while use of international remittances 

increased; that households that were very or somewhat clear on 

their bank's communication about account fees tended to have 

lower use of non-bank financial transaction services; and that 

households that were not very clear or not at all clear on their 

bank's communication on account fees tended to have higher use 

of non-bank financial transaction services. Mr. Kutzbach then 

paused for a question from Member Mintz requesting clarification 

on whether the data that has been presented was separated by the 

banked and unbanked populations to which Ms. Chu responded that 

the data breaks out product usage by different household 

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character stakes as well as bank account ownership. 

Mr. Kutzbach then discussed the 2019 survey findings on the 

use of bank and non-bank credit products, which included credit 

cards, auto loans, pawn shop loans, tax refund anticipation 

loans, rent-to-own services, personal loans or lines of credit 

from a bank. He reported that there was an increase in bank 

credit from 2015 to 2019 from 67.9 percent to 72.5 percent and 

that the use of non-bank credit decreased from 8.1 percent to 

4.8 percent over different segments of the population. He 

further noted that bank credit use differences by income and 

race/ethnicity were stark and that non-bank credit use was 

higher among the following households: lower income, less 

educated, Black and Hispanic, and working age-disabled 

households. 

Mr. Kutzbach then briefly discussed the survey’s results 

regarding saving for unexpected emergencies. He reported that, 

in 2019, 64.2 percent of households saved for unexpected 

expenses or emergencies in the last 12 months, which was an 

increase from savings reported in 2015 and 2017. He noted that 

savings rates were lower among the following households: lower 

income, less educated, older, Black, Hispanic and American 

Indian or Alaska Native households, and working age disabled 

households; that rates of savings for unexpected expenses or 

emergencies increased from 2015 to 2019, both for unbanked and 

banked households; and that rates of savings for unexpected 

emergencies continued to be much lower for the unbanked. 

Following Mr. Kutzbach’s remarks on savings data, several 

committee members asked a number of questions, including whether 

the savings data from the survey had been categorized by income 

level, age, and various other demographic characteristics. 

Responding to these inquiries, Mr. Weinstein stated that an 

examination of the larger set of demographic and socioeconomic 

characteristics revealed that savings rates increased across the 

board. 

Mr. Kutzbach concluded his presentation by providing an 

overview of the postscript related to the COVID-19 pandemic that 

appears in the report. He noted that there are higher rates of 

unemployment and differences in the way people are using and 

having access to financial services; that it is expected that 

the COVID 19 pandemic is likely to contribute to a rise in the 

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October 22, 2020 

unbanked rate. 

Mr. Weinstein continued discussing the postscript by noting 

that social distancing guidelines instituted in response to the 

pandemic may make the use of paper instruments to conduct 

financial transactions particularly challenging; that use of 

paper instruments for paying bills and receiving income in a 

typical month was much more common among the unbanked; that 

reliance on paper instruments may make it harder for households 

to receive government relief efforts; that social distancing 

guidelines may make bank branch visits more challenging; and 

that the economic ramifications of the pandemic may particularly 

affect households without an adequate savings cushion or without 

access to responsible, affordable credit. 

Mr. Weinstein concluded the presentation on the survey by 

discussing the “How America Banks” new website, which contains a 

link to economicinclusion.gov, where the public can access the 

full survey report, the executive summary, with the preface and 

postscript, and a set of appendix tables. 

Following the conclusion of the presentation on the 2019 

survey data, Mr. Miller announced that the meeting would briefly 

recess. Accordingly, at 3:24 p.m., the meeting stood in recess. 

* * * * *

The meeting reconvened at 3:37 p.m. that same day, at which 

time Mr. Miller advised that the panel would discuss the 

financial status and health of American households as impacted 

by the COVID crisis. Mr. Miller then introduced Keith Ernst, 

Associate Director of Consumer Research and Exam Analytics at 

the FDIC, as moderator for the next panel, “The Financial Status 

and Health of American Households during the COVID Crisis”. Mr. 

Ernst then introduced Jason Brown, Assistant Director, Office of 

Research, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), Fiona 

Greig, Managing Director and Director of Consumer Research, 

JPMorgan Chase Institute, Rob Levy, Vice President of Research 

and Measurement, Financial Health Network, and Kevin Klowden, 

Executive Director, Center for Regional Economics and California 

Center, Milken Institute to discuss perspectives on data 

collected since the onset of the pandemic. 

Mr. Brown opened the presentation by noting that the CFPB 

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has been conducting research to understand the effects of the 

pandemic on consumer credit trends, which is gathered from a 

random sample of consumer credit records from one of three 

nationwide consumer reporting agencies. He reported that the 

data includes approximately 5 million credit records and is 

updated monthly. Mr. Brown also noted several other 

observations from the data including that auto and home 

purchases, typically done in person, fell in March, but have 

since rebounded since social distancing measures were relaxed; 

revolving credit card applications fell and have stayed low; 

credit card balances have fallen considerably, since April and 

continuing through June; personal income shot up in April with 

the CARES Act and the personal savings rate remaining elevated; 

that the biggest drop in credit card balances occurred among 

those with the highest credit scores; and that most credit card 

account closures were due to inactivity, particularly among the 

super prime and prime borrowers. Mr. Brown also made note of 

several measures in place to help borrowers during the pandemic 

such as the CARES Act, which required lenders to suspend 

principal and interest on federally held student loans and that 

mortgage borrowers with federal or GSE backed mortgages were 

allowed to apply for forbearance for 180 days up to 360 days. 

Ms. Greig then discussed several papers that JP Morgan 

Chase has published recently on aggregate trends in consumer 

behavior, including income, spending and savings, as well as the 

impacts of unemployment insurance benefits on spending and 

savings. Ms. Greig reported that job losses have been 

disproportionately affecting low-income families. With regard 

to spending, she noted that there has been a significant drop in 

spending, which had begun to recover; that recovery occurred 

more quickly for low-income families (close to the distribution 

of $1,200 stimulus check); that grocery workers spending dropped 

the least (hours and wages dropped the least); that clothing and 

department store industries spending recovered very quickly; 

that there had been a larger drop in credit card spending; and 

that there had been overall checking account balance growth for 

consumers. 

Next, Mr. Levy provided an overview of the results from the 

U.S. Financial Health Pulse 2020 Trends Report. He explained 

that the goal of the pulse is to take a holistic view of 

financial health, bringing together the components of spending, 

saving, borrowing in order to answer the question of how 

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financially healthy is America. Mr. Levy described that the 

Pulse is a unique study, with over 6,400 respondents, that 

combines survey and transactional data; that examined July and 

August data; and that looked at accounts across different 

institutions, checking, savings, and credit cards, some 

mortgages, and some 401(k) s for approximately 835 people. Mr. 

Levy reported that FHN breaks down the data into the four basic 

categories of spending, saving, borrowing, and planning. He 

also noted that FHN breaks down the results for financial health 

in America into three categories, financially vulnerable, 

financially coping, and financially healthy. He further reported 

that the 2020 trend report is that financial health has improved 

from previous years, but that 67 percent of consumers are still 

financially coping or vulnerable. Mr. Levy described massive 

disparities among the data according to race including that 39 

percent of White Americans are financially healthy; 39 percent 

of Asian Americans; 24 percent of Latinx, and 15 percent of 

Black Americans. He concluded by noting that only 61 percent of 

Black respondents received the debt relief requested, compared 

to 73 percent and 76 percent of Latinx and White respondents, 

which confirms challenges that Black Americans are facing with 

the banking system. 

 After being introduced by Mr. Ernst, Mr. Klowden began by 

providing an overview of the work that the Milken Institute, in 

conjunction with the Small Business Administration has done to 

address infrastructure issues. Mr. Klowden noted over 6,000 

bank branches closed between 2008 and 2016 with the majority 

closing in intensely urban areas and locations that were already 

considered marginal in terms of availability of access to 

capital. Mr. Klowden reported that MDIs ad been filling in some 

of that gap leading up to 2008 financial crisis but that the 

number of MDIs dropped to 149 by 2018. He also described a 

division in terms of access to broadband between urban minority 

communities and rural communities, which impacts banking online, 

access to capital, saving money, and lending access. Mr. 

Klowden noted that mortgage and refinancing data from 2015 shows 

overall mortgage denials of 19 percent for Hispanic community, 

27 percent for the Black community, and that infrastructure 

issues impact consumers being able to access online mortgages, 

alternate sources, fintech, and other elements. He also noted 

that rural communities have less access to resources. 

Mr. Klowden continued by discussing the ability of 

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October 22, 2020 

communities and populations to work remotely. He reported that, 

according to surveys, the overall ability to telework in 

households ranges between 43.5 percent to nearly 45 percent; 

that the data is fairly consistent by age range (25 to 50 or 25 

to 55 or 55 and older); and that regarding ethnicity, the 

population able to telework drops from 43.5 percent down to 39.5 

percent for Black households and 29 percent for Hispanic 

households. He noted that the ability to work effectively, trust 

connections and infrastructure at home, and trust in 

institutions and access has proved to be problematic related to 

remote work. He closed by noting that concerns regarding 

availability and access to credit will be important to address 

in order rebuild the infrastructure for household lending and 

building household savings 

 In the discussion following the panel’s presentation, 

Committee members made a number of comments and observations. 

Member Barr asked Ms. Greig about the effect of the data if 

another stimulus payment is not distributed. Member Camper 

asked for further clarification regarding the data related to 

consumers who had applied for debt relief that was not received. 

Mr. Ernst asked Committee members to think about what issues are 

going to be the most important for financial services providers 

to pay attention to in the coming year to which several 

panelists and Committee members offered responses. 

 Mr. Miller then introduced Nikita Pearson, Acting Director, 

FDIC Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) and Betty 

Rudolph, FDIC National Director of Minority Depository 

Institution (MDI) and Community Development Banking to discuss 

OMWI and MDI initiatives and developments. 

 Ms. Pearson began her presentation by sharing her personal 

experiences struggling to join that financial system. She 

emphasized that there is necessity to create a fair and 

inclusive financial system. Ms. Pearson further noted that 

diversity, equity, and inclusion are fundamental aspects of the 

FDIC's work and that the FDIC is working to transform its 

workforce to help make the banking system safer, fairer, and 

more inclusive. She explained that the FDIC’s goal is to have a 

diverse workforce that is well trained on the needs of the 

communities that banks serve. Ms. Pearson continued, noting 

that the FDIC has realized that there is a need to focus on our 

examination workforce in that bank examiners ensure that 

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October 22, 2020 

financial institutions treat consumers and depositors fairly and 

reinvest in their communities. Ms. Pearson then made note of 

several steps that the FDIC has taken to address examination 

workforce concerns. 

She reported that positive results in recruiting and retention 

efforts and that the FDIC remains committed to establishing a 

diverse workforce and an inclusive work environment at the FDIC 

and across the financial services industry. 

Next, Ms. Rudolph provided an overview of the FDIC’s MDI 

program. She explained that the FDIC MDI Program’s work is 

governed by five statutory goals and that key program 

initiatives support those goals, such as the new MDI 

subcommittee to the FDIC’s Advisory Committee on Community 

Banking and a comprehensive research study that looked at the 

structure, performance, and social impact of MDIs. Ms. Rudolph 

noted that the FDIC Board approved proposed updates to the 

FDIC’s Statement of Policy Regarding Minority Depository 

Institutions. She further noted that Chairman McWilliams has 

recorded numerous podcasts, videos, and messages about the 

importance of minority and community development banks and that 

the FDIC brought together about 30 large bank CEOs and about 25 

MDI CEOs to explore partnerships that might provide CRA credit 

for the larger institution for various financial support, loan 

participations, and technical assistance activities. Ms. 

Rudolph described the 

FDIC’s MDI resource guide that detail the role that FDIC-insured 

MDIs and CDFIs play in the economy. Concluding her remarks, Ms. 

Rudolph provided a brief overview of the Mission Driven Fund for 

250 FDIC-insured MDIs and CDFIs that play an essential role in 

serving low and moderate-income communities to raise capital and 

attract technical expertise. In response to Ms. Rudolph’s 

remarks, Member McDonald, Jr. shared his experiences as an MDI 

and thanked the FDIC for its support. 

Closing the meeting, Chairman McWilliams thanked the 

participants for their time and dedication and expressed her 

gratitude for the panelists’ and Committee members’ passion 

about the various issues discussed. She stated that the 

discussions today were much needed discussions, and stated that 

the Committee would continue to meet and have these discussions. 

Director Gruenberg was invited to share his closing 

comments. He thanked this remarkable group for their 

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October 22, 2020 

willingness to invest the time and effort to give FDIC the 

benefit of their thoughts. Mr. Miller then thanked everyone and 

stated that he would be in touch with the Members about next 

year's meetings. 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned 

at 5:11 p.m. 

____________________________________ 

Debra A. Decker 

Deputy Executive Secretary 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 

And Committee Management Officer 

FDIC Advisory Committee on Economic 

Inclusion 

563
Minutes

of

The Meeting of the FDIC Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion

of the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Held Via Webcast

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Building

Washington, D.C.

Open to Public Observation

October 22, 2020 – 1:00 P.M.

I hereby certify that, to the best of my knowledge, the attached minutes are accurate and 

complete.

________________________________

Jelena McWilliams

Chairman

Board of Directors

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation