CFPB Focuses on Rural Banking Access -

"Rural Americans visit bank branches at nearly double the rate of urban and suburban customers, the CFPB found in its report, titled Challenges in Rural Banking Access."

Why this is important: In April, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a report entitled “Data Spotlight: Challenges in Rural Banking Access.” The report is the starting point for a CFPB initiative that will focus on the unique consumer finance challenges faced by individuals residing in rural communities. According to the report, the initiative will include devoted engagement with rural communities across the country, research into challenges faced by rural communities, and actions to protect rural consumers from predatory bad actors and repeat offenders in consumer financial markets. The report recognizes that additional research is necessary to better understand the unique challenges faced by rural Americans, but it preliminarily identifies the following as some of the issues these individuals face: (1) rural communities have lower incomes and higher poverty rates than the rest of the country and significant issues making ends meet; (2) rural Americans depend on physical bank branches and smaller banks more than the rest of the country, have less access to the internet and online banking options, and are more likely to live in banking deserts; (3) rural people are less likely to have credit scores and more likely to use non-bank credit, resulting in rural consumers paying more for credit; and (4) consumers in rural areas submit fewer complaints per capita to the CFPB. The CFPB is prioritizing outreach to rural communities, and will host roundtables with rural stakeholders across the country. It will also work with the Department of Agriculture, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Department of Treasury to ensure rural communities have adequate resources.