The shift in business models among banks and credit unions—along with ongoing consolidation and the retreat from rural markets—has left a growing number of entrepreneurs without access to traditional financing. In response, MoFi and other CDFIs have become critical entry points for future bank customers.
I have watched how CDFIs support small business owners and home owners where banks and credit unions could not. The amount banks charge is often above what people can pay, CDFIs that are nonprofits even the playing field for them by investing in the people and not company profits.
CDFIs are critical to our economy. They step in where banks can’t – or wont – go. They leverage hundreds of millions of private dollars every year and invest them in underserved businesses and communities, based on need and impact. This is an effective, efficient public-private solution to pressing social and economic issues throughout our country.