OCC Announces Project REACh to Promote Greater Access to Capital and Credit for Underserved Populations

WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today announced the launch of Project REACh to promote financial inclusion through greater access to credit and capital.

REACh stands for Roundtable for Economic Access and Change and brings together leaders from the banking industry, national civil rights organizations, business, and technology to identify and reduce barriers that prevent full, equal, and fair participation in the nation’s economy.

“The recent civil unrest across our country emphasizes that too many people have been left out of our nation’s economy,” said Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian P. Brooks. “While we applaud others, who have made large financial contributions to address immediate needs, Project REACh will focus on policy and structural changes that can help more people participate in our economy and prosper in the same way so many others have.”

Project REACh will convene people with the ability to help address inherent policy and structural issues at the national and local levels to increase access to credit and capital and expand financial inclusion.

“A good example of the structural barriers we can tackle involves the fact that almost 50 million Americans have no credit score,” Acting Comptroller Brooks said. “That does not mean those individuals are uncreditworthy, but it likely means they cannot get a traditional loan. We can fix that and similar problems that will make access to credit easier and more affordable for millions of people.”

The OCC hosted the first roundtable meeting on July 10, to begin identifying projects the group will tackle. Participants in the inaugural meeting included:

• Brian P. Brooks, Acting Comptroller of the Currency

• Brian Argrett, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), City First Bank of DC

• Faith Bautista, President and CEO, National Asian American Coalition

• Dr. John Boyd, President and Founder, National Black Farmers Association

• Kara Brewer Boyd, President, Association of American Indian Farmers

• Wayne Bradshaw, President and CEO of Broadway Federal Bank

• John Hope Bryant, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Operation HOPE

• Ramiro A. Cavazos, President and CEO, U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

• Michael Corbat, CEO of Citigroup

• Dante Desiderio, Executive Director of NAFOA

• Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP

• Kenneth Lin, Founder and CEO of Credit Karma

• Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League

• Gordon Smith, Co-President and Chief Operating Officer of JPMorgan Chase

• Steve Steinour, Chairman, President and CEO of Huntington Bank

• Jin Sung, Chair of the National Diversity Coalition

• John Taylor, President and Founder, National Community Reinvestment Coalition

• Laurie Vignaud, President and CEO, Unity National Bank

• Michael Weinbach, CEO of Consumer Lending, Wells Fargo