WASHINGTON, D.C.—Benjamin Schiffrin, Director of Securities Policy, issued the following statement in connection with Better Markets’ new Fact Sheet, “Three Ways The Financial Industry Targets Minority Communities”:

“The failure of the mainstream financial industry to meet the needs of minority communities is well known, but less well known are the ways that players in the industry take advantage of that fact to market alternative financial offerings of dubious value to those communities.  These practices have become known as predatory inclusion—schemes that are portrayed as allowing marginalized communities to achieve the financial security that has alluded them but that actually only further exploit those communities and perpetuate their financial struggle. Our fact sheet highlights three such ways in which the financial industry targets minority communities:  cryptocurrency offerings, affinity frauds, and payday lending.

“The crypto industry touts itself as a way for minority communities to attain financial equality, but as with so many of crypto’s promises it has not delivered. It has gotten minority communities to invest in crypto at higher rates than other groups, but all that has done is left those communities hit the hardest by the industry’s never-ending parade of scams and frauds. In this way, crypto is similar to affinity frauds, which are fraudulent schemes that target the members of vulnerable minority communities. Affinity frauds take advantage of minority communities’ distrust of the traditional financial system to peddle alternative investment options that turn out to be Ponzi schemes or similar frauds. And payday lenders prey on minority communities desperate for quick access to short-term credit. With massive fees and interest charges, instead of improving the financial condition of these communities, the loans often leave minority borrowers trapped in an endless cycle of debt.

“Despite all holding out the promise of financial inclusion, the unfortunate reality is that crypto offerings, affinity frauds, and payday lending are just three more ways in which the financial industry exploits minority communities for its own benefit.”

You can find the fact sheet here.

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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies—including many in finance—to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org