Inclusiv Network, and Experian North America announced earlier this year they were joining forces to promote financial inclusion and asset building opportunities for credit unions and their consumers, with a special focus on those in the Hispanic community. Through this new partnership, Experian will provide credit education resources for consumers and small businesses in English and Spanish, and custom credit education training to help Inclusiv members serve their 17.2 million consumers.
As part of the partnership, Experian becomes the exclusive credit bureau partner for the Juntos Avanzamos program, a financial inclusion framework for credit unions serving the Hispanic, immigrant, and refugee communities. This program designates credit unions that provide critical access to responsible, affordable and sustainable financial products and services through a network of over 900 community branches serving more than 9 million consumers in 27 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. From 2000 to 2020, more than half of the total US population growth came from the Hispanic community, which by 2024 is projected to reach 72 million. Yet almost two thirds of low-income Latinos are either unbanked or underbanked.
“Through this partnership, Inclusiv and Experian will make available financial education resources to connect Latinos, immigrants and refugees with asset building tools to achieve financial security, build communities and make an ever bigger economic contribution to the nation,” said Pablo DeFilippi, executive vice president for Inclusiv Network.
The collaboration is part of the Inclusion Forward – Experian Empowering Opportunities™ initiative. By harnessing Experian’s data, analytics and technology, financial institutions can advance and achieve their financial inclusion objectives and provide more affordable credit access for underserved communities.
“Fair access to credit helps consumers reach their life’s goals. Even something seemingly as simple as providing tools and resources in-language can break down barriers to that access. This work is part of our commitment to financial inclusion for all. We’re proud to partner with community development financial institutions (CDFIs), minority deposit institutions (MDIs) and organizations like the Inclusiv Network, to reach and empower the underserved,” says Wil Lewis, Experian’s global chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer.
The first event ever organized as part of this partnership was a success! On August 10, 2022, Experian and Inclusiv celebrated the “Best Practices to Help Credit Unions Enhance Financial Inclusion Engagement” webinar. Hundreds of credit union practitioners joined Sue Schroeder, Max Villaronga, CEO of Raiz FCU in El Paso, and Pablo DeFilippi, EVP at Inclusiv for a conversation about ways to build new growth opportunities and position inclusive finance as a strategic priority. Stay tuned for exciting news and updates about this partnership!