Convening on Inclusion
This week Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Policy, Graham Steele chaired a convening in the Treasury Cash Room. Civil rights organizations, consumer advocates, and research organizations discussed financial inclusion and financial barriers that underserved communities face. This week’s meeting was one of many the Department of the Treasury is hosting in an effort to develop a National Strategy on Financial Inclusion.
During this session Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Wally Adeyemo highlighted the importance of financial inclusion to advance racial equity and expressed the importance for continued public and private sector work to guarantee that all Americans benefit from the country’s economic progress. Deputy Assistant Security for Consumer Policy, Suzanna Fritzberg, discussed the scope of the financial inclusion strategy, tracking and benchmarking progress on financial inclusion, and priorities and recommendations for improving financial inclusion for underserved communities.
Treasury was directed to develop a national strategy to improve financial inclusion on December 29, 2022, and initiated work on the strategy in 2023. They continue to engage with a variety of stakeholders to ensure that the strategy is valuable for all market participants. They are working to ensure that their strategy is accessible and provides clear and actionable opportunities to enhance financial inclusion for the benefit of consumers.
AFSA has discussed financial inclusion with senior Treasury officials and looks forward to commenting on the request for information when it is published.
November 9th, 2023
