GAO: Community Development Financial Institutions need tech help
CDFIs, MDIs are losing customers over lack of online, mobile banking
Community Development Financial Institutions and Minority Depository Institutions are losing customers because they do not have the resources or training to provide even the most basic digital services, the Government Accountability Office said in a report issued late last week.
“Many CDFIs and MDIs have limited technology capacity that may constrain their growth and ability to fully meet their mission,” the GAO said. “Small CDFIs and MDIs disproportionately reported lacking capacity to provide digital services, such as online and mobile banking, which their officials said limited their ability to reach more underserved consumers.”
The GAO recommended that the Treasury Department ensures that its CDFI program develops training materials that would improve the institutions’ technology capacity. The department’s efforts should particularly address the specific challenges faced by smaller CDFIs, the GAO said.
The GAO sent surveys to 656 random CDFIs between June and July 2023 and received 187 responses.
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