Why banking is only at the start of its diversity and inclusion journey
Most financial institutions have already initiated diversity and inclusion programs for both their employees and customers and think that will be enough. But experts from Deloitte and PwC say there is a need for a greater culture change. Here's their take on the top priorities.
The banking industry is improving financial inclusion and diversity, but it still has a long way to go. As evidence of that, over half of financial service employees say they wrestle with discrimination at work, according to a 2021 PwC D&I benchmarking survey. PwC polled over 500 corporate employees and found that “people revealed a mostly optimistic story, but one with some concerning undercurrents.”
Courtney Davis, Banking Principle for Deloitte said there is a wide variance in narratives that banks and credit unions fall into on this subject, during a Banking Transformed podcast interview, with Jim Marous, Co-Publisher of The Financial Brand and CEO of the Digital Banking Report.
“I think the reasons why there hasn’t been more traction in this area probably varies a bit from institution to institution,” Davis explains. “For larger institutions, there will often be challenges and internal hurdles that need to be jumped over in order to engage with third parties in a way that is meaningful and involves access to client data.”
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