Describes changes in the Illinois payday lending industry since 2001 when state rules regulating the industry were approved.

Since the passage of the Gramm Leach Bliley Financial Modernization Act of 1999 (GLBA), insurance companies, banks, mortgage companies, and securities firms have been allowed to merge with and acquire one another for the first time since the Great Depression. This Alert discusses the community development implications of these changes. It also gives an overview of how insurance companies that have opened bank charters are performing in relation to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and fair lending.

Analyzes patterns of small business lending in the Chicago region. Notes patterns in lending related to geography and race. Highlights importance of branch networks for small business lending and discusses credit card banking.

Analyzes impacts of CDFIs in Illinois using FY 2001 data. Shows impactsof CDFIs on affordable housing, community facilities, individual development account programs, technical assistance, and other benefits. Makes a case for funding for the newly created Illinois Fund for Investment and Development (IFID), a CDFI authority for the state of Illinois.

Demonstrates the importance of bank investments in community development financial institutions (CDFIs) that are crucial actors in low-income community development. Utilizing a new data source covering 379 CDFIs across the country, finds that bank investments are crucial to CDFIs. Provides evidence of the importance of the investment test portion of CRA exams and calls for an increase in the appropriation of the federal CDFI Fund.

Shows that community development (CD) banks far outperform regular banks in serving low-income and minority communities. Includes extensive data analysis which describes the performance of banks in Chicago. Demonstrates that a considerably higher percent of CD banks' home loans go to lower-income neighborhoods and borrowers than is true for all other lenders. The same pattern is repeated for loans to minority neighborhoods and borrowers.

Utilizing extensive data analysis, this alert shows how community development banks have grown in size and financial strength while at the same time serving their community development mission.