Mastercard pledges $500 million to help close the racial wealth Gap

MasterCard will provide $ 500 million to a group of initiatives aimed at increasing the financial inclusion of black communities in the United States in other to focus on bridging the racial wealth and opportunity gap, the payments company said Thursday.

As the protests against Black Lives Matter sparked a new dialogue about race relations in the United States, more and more companies launched new initiatives to end longstanding racial discrimination in various industries.

Thus, Mastercard revealed its new commitment to addressing the racial prosperity gap within the black community, with an investment of $ 500 million over the next five years.

The new fund will be used to fund products, services, financial assistance, and technology to provide black entrepreneurs and residents across the country with access to affordable resources to raise capital for various businesses. "We have been focused on promoting financial inclusion around the world for over a decade - it is at the heart of who we are as a company and how we think about our role in society." Mike Froman, Vice President and President of Strategic Growth for MasterCard.

“However, the racial injustice that has come to fore over the past few months, reflecting centuries of structural inequities, has provided an additional focus to that work and mobilized broad-based engagement by our employees and leadership.”

“We want to bring the same strategic approach to this issue as we have to financial inclusion—combining our products and services, technology and people, philanthropy, and thought leadership,” he added.

“We will be addressing the wealth and opportunity gap faced by Black families and Black-owned businesses, including by providing access to safe and affordable financial services and capital to start and run a business.”

New initiatives under the New Pledge include a variety of projects across the country including the L.A. Mayors Fund and Accelerator for America to help Los Angeles residents affected by the COVID-19 or novel coronavirus pandemic. "Historically, black small business owners have been left behind due to the exclusion of financial networks that provide access to capital and credit, abusive credit policies, and poor banking relationships," said Marla. SVP of Social Impact North America MasterCard Centre for Inclusive Growth.

“The number of black-owned companies decreased by 41% from February to April 2020. In contrast, the number of white business owners decreased by 17%. Over the past few years, [MasterCard] has worked with Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to digitize application processing and fund distribution and digital connectivity to relevant programs such as SBA / PPP systems. Added punch.

“It has helped them expand their reach and scalability - more credit to more businesses in more locations. [To date, MasterCard has] helped raise $ 250 million in capital to black-owned companies in the United States since 2018, and is working to triple that amount to $ 750 million for the United States through that effort. "