Did Fintech Save Minority-Owned Businesses in the PPP? With NYU's Dr. Sabrina Howell

Wharton FinTech Podcast

Ryan Zauk sits down with NYU Stern's Dr. Sabrina Howell to discuss her most recent paper titled 'Which lenders had the highest minority share among their PPP loans?' Though the answer may not surprise you, the data, methodology, reasoning, and implications might. In the wake of the PPP, there was a lot of scrutiny into who was getting (and not getting) access to crucial government aid. Gatekept by financial institutions, from Wells Fargo to fintechs, small businesses were at the mercy of institutions. So it begged the question, who did these institutions choose to allocate their money to? And did the data differ across institution types and loan applicants? If so, why? Professor Howell, her colleagues, and a consortium of partners set out to dig into the data, with a focus on who was lending to minority-owned businesses. In today’s episode, Ryan and Dr. Howell discuss: 4:40 Her previous research in ICOs and the ‘joke’ ICO she saw that hit $15M in market cap (it's even stranger than Doge Coin) 8:07 The basics of the PPP and the abstract of her paper 11:21 Why Fintechs were able to more effectively lend to minority-owned businesses, and why this giant lending gap existed 15:50 What data they used to triangulate the race of business owners 17:48 How the PPP can be a turning point for Fintechs to build relationships with small businesses 21:10 What the government, fintech, and small business should take away from the PPP 25:00 Her two key recommendations for the ‘next PPP’ 28:07 What’s taught in her NYU fintech class The Paper: http://nebula.wsimg.com/c26ae478f12bf4a15666ac250c259240?AccessKeyId=1EB5B81197329425B7C4&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 For more FinTech insights, follow us below: Medium: medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/