“Help us to make your customers of tomorrow,” says trade body CDFA
16.12.2013
The Community Development Finance Association (CDFA) welcomes tomorrow’s disclosure of lending data at postcode level by the high street banks – and offers banks the opportunity of working with their members to reach hard to reach markets.
The CDFA is the voice of community development finance institutions (CDFIs) – social enterprises and community organisations which together, lend over £200m each year to businesses and people who struggle to get finance from high street banks.
Ben Hughes, chief executive of the CDFA said:
“We welcome tomorrow’s report as we hope it will shine a much needed light on the investment disparities that exist across the UK. It will enable us to target the money our members currently lend to ensure they have maximum impact in the areas that are least well served by the major banks.
We would never advocate irresponsible lending but we know that many businesses and individuals are being denied investment by the mainstream banks – not because they can’t pay but because they don’t fit the business models of the banks.”
The CDFA is part of the Community Investment Coalition (CIC) which aims to increase access to affordable finance for all communities and looks forward to taking this work further.
Continuing, Ben Hughes said: “If the banks wish to reach these underserved markets, they still can and this report marks an ideal opportunity to do so. We invite the mainstream banks to work with us and co-invest with CDFIs – to ensure that the people who need investment and can pay, get the help they deserve.
“We’ve seen that taking this route can reap rewards for both customer and bank as investment and support today can make the banking customers of tomorrow.”
Notes to editors
CDFA Contact
Ben Hughes:
[email protected]
About the Community Development Finance Association
The Community Development Finance Association (CDFA) is the voice for providers of fair and affordable finance. We represent and support a national network of community development finance institutions or CDFIs.
CDFIs create jobs and help businesses to start and grow. They help people to pay bills, meet unexpected expenses or improve their home. They help people who may otherwise use high cost credit, such as payday lenders. Additional information can be found at www.cdfa.org.uk
In 2012 CDFA members:
- Lent £200m to 33,400 customers
- Created and protected 8,300 jobs
- Supported 2,600 businesses, and 347 social ventures
- Saved 18,850 people from illegal and high-cost lenders
- Repaired 1,400 sub-standard homes
- Facilitated £116m of bank finance
About the Community Investment Coalition (CIC)
The Community Investment Coalition is a partnership of national organisations, which aims to increase access to affordable finance for all communities. Membership includes the Community Development Foundation (CDF), the Centre of Responsible Credit (CfRC), the New Economics Foundation (nef), CCLA and the Community Development Finance Association (CDFA).
About the report
The data, to be released on Tuesday by the British Bankers Association (BBA) and Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), will be broken down by 9,000 postcodes across Great Britain. It will show the outstanding stock of lending committed to customers across 3 categories:
Loans and overdrafts to SMEs
Mortgages
Unsecured personal loans.
It will show whether the main high street lenders are concentrating the provision of credit in certain areas leaving other areas to become ‘credit deserts’ with businesses and consumers struggling to access credit. It is a major step forward in terms of transparency. This new data will allow businesses and the public to see clearly how the banking and building society sectors are serving the wider economy, and in what areas of Great Britain there is less lending. Publishing data in such a detailed way will assist competition, allowing new entrants to identify where there is unmet demand and to pursue new business in these areas.