American Banker, December 18, 2017: Square to small banks: Don’t lump us in with Amazon and Facebook
Earlier this fall, Square met with officials from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, and they came away impressed by the company’s commitment to serving businesses that typically have trouble accessing credit. Square conducted a survey of 7,000 of its borrowers in January, which found that 54% of them were owned by women, and 37% were owned by minorities.
“Looking at this company and its origins and who the leadership is, it gives one hope that this company is going to do the right thing,” said John Taylor, president and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.
The activists’ concerns have not yet been fully resolved. For example, Square is proposing that its Community Reinvestment Act assessment should focus on the Salt Lake City area, where its bank would be headquartered, but Taylor argues that is too narrow a focus for a national lending business.
