How Community Reinvestment Fund, USA is bridging the gap between community lenders and the capital small businesses need
Mastercard Strive ―
The small business ecosystem is famously siloed in the United States. Community Reinvestment Fund, USA builds, deploys, and scales technology that breaks down these silos.
This Impact Spotlight highlights seven diverse professionals focused on building shared infrastructure for the U.S. small business ecosystem.
The small business ecosystem is famously siloed in the United States. Community lenders tailor their products to the specific communities they serve, technical assistance providers have diverse approaches to supporting small businesses, and government programs vary greatly by region, to list just three examples.
Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (CRF) builds, deploys, and scales technology that connects different parts of the small business ecosystem. CRF Connect, for example, connects small businesses to multiple community lenders through an online loan matching marketplace. CRF Exchange helps lenders and portfolio managers sell and buy loans. CRF also connects their tools to government programs as well as implementing partners.
We sat down with Matthew Roth, President & CEO of CRF, to better understand what this work of building technology that cuts across traditional siloes looks like, the impact to date, and what they have learned.
Matt Roth, President & CEO of Community Reinvestment Fund, USA, discusses the value of a network approach for systemic impact through partnerships.
What was this work designed to change?
This work was designed to expand how capital and resources reach under-resourced entrepreneurs. We are scaling CRF’s technology infrastructure so more Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) have more pathways to access capital, which then allows them to lend to more small businesses. The ultimate goal we’re working towards is a more efficient, interconnected, and scalable small business support ecosystem.
What shifted as a result?
The impact has been significant. To provide just a couple metrics, CRF Connect, our online loan matching marketplace, has exceeded $645 million in loans closed through the platform. CRF Exchange, our platform that facilitates the collection and transfer of data necessary for the sale and ongoing remittance reporting of loans and loan sales for CDFIs, , surpassed $2 billion in loans enrolled. And CRF Insights, our business intelligence tool, is helping entrepreneurs view and better understand their business data, like transaction and accounting information, in a centralized location.
Why does this change matter for small businesses?
Many small businesses do not qualify for mainstream bank financing, so finding affordable capital can be a big challenge for them. Connecting under-resourced entrepreneurs with CDFIs helps them access affordable capital. When the entire ecosystem is better resourced and connected, more small businesses get the support they need to grow and thrive.
What did you learn that others in the field should pay attention to?
This work reinforces the importance of having a network approach. You can have a bigger and oftentimes systemic impact when working with partners, which also enables you to leverage the different strengths of different partners.
What is the next phase of this work?
The next phase is deepening the impact of the tools we’ve built. For example, we are developing CRF Insights to move beyond point-in-time output data toward long-term outcome data that tracks the real impact of entire programs over time.
What does it mean to modernize community lending today?
Modernizing community lending means building the infrastructure and tools that help all small businesses access affordable capital and resources. It means giving CDFIs the resources and connectivity they need to do their work more efficiently and at greater scale.
How can technology improve how capital reaches small businesses?
Technology, if deployed intentionally, can reduce the friction points that slow or stop capital and resources from reaching small business. They can also provide stakeholders with more visibility into portfolio health and outcomes.
What role does infrastructure play in scaling responsible lending?
Strong infrastructure, if done right, allows responsible lending to scale without sacrificing quality, customer experience, or impact. It creates the accountability, processes, and efficiency that let CDFIs access new sources of liquidity, serve more customers, meet reporting needs, and demonstrate impact.
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