A long history of discrimination and wealth-stripping has caused African Americans, Hispanics, and other people of color to have lower credit scores, less wealth, and less trust in the U.S. financial system than whites.

The Financial Health Network is submitting this letter in response to the request for comments on “Exploring Special Purpose National Bank Charters for Fintech Companies,” issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and published on December 2, 2016.

The Financial Health Network and Core Innovation Capital present this 6th annual market analysis to illustrate the size of the opportunity to address the needs of financially underserved consumers and identify significant trends driving marketplace evolution and growth.

This report examines the significant volume of recent investment activity in the FinTech market for financially underserved consumers. This consumer finance segment is a dynamic and growing space.