The financial service industry has expanded beyond the traditional financial services of yesteryear. A host of nontraditional or “fringe” financial service providers have grown in popularity, adding more consumer options to the mix.
In the 1980s, prepaid cards, as they were called, first emerged in the long- distance telephone service market. By the mid 1990s, large retailers realized the cost-saving possibilities of stored value cards and began issuing them in place of traditional, paper gift certificates. Over the past decade, the stored value card market has grown exponentially. Today, stored value cards are being used for many purposes, including payroll, general spending, travel expenses, government benefit payments, retailer-specific spending, and employee benefit and reward payments. Card issuers include financial institutions, individual retailers, government agencies and nonbank financial service providers.
The concept of land banking began in the 1960s as communities sought solutions to urban disinvestment. The idea is simple…to create a governmental entity that focuses solely on the conversion of vacant, abandoned and tax-delinquent properties into productive use. Land bank authorities achieve this goal by acquiring and overseeing redevelopment of these properties.
Minimized risk. Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) credit. Community development loan pools provide the opportunity to simultaneously achieve both.
