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Digital redlining and the fintech marketplace: Evidence from US zip codes

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  • Terri Friedline
  • Zibei Chen

Abstract

The rise of digital technologies enables new manifestations of racialization in financial services with marketplace implications. Akin to redlining in the lending market, racialization in the spatial availability of digital technologies—including financial technologies or “fintech”—may raise the costs of banking in black and brown communities. This paper investigates associations between communities' racial makeup and rates of fintech by leveraging 2015 Esri Business Analyst Market Potential data from the universe of high‐poverty zip codes. Poor black and brown communities experience a form of digital redlining by having the lowest fintech rates. Every percentage increase in a community's black population was associated with an 18% decrease in their rate of high‐speed internet access, 1% decrease in smartphone ownership, 12% decrease in online banking, and 3% decrease in mobile banking. Relationships were opposite for communities with increasing white populations where whiteness attracts higher rates of fintech, even amidst high poverty.

Suggested Citation

  • Terri Friedline & Zibei Chen, 2021. "Digital redlining and the fintech marketplace: Evidence from US zip codes," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 366-388, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:55:y:2021:i:2:p:366-388
    DOI: 10.1111/joca.12297
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    Cited by:

    1. Sonya A Grier & David Crockett & Guillaume D Johnson & Kevin D Thomas & Tonya Williams Bradford, 2023. "Race In Consumer Research: Past, Present, And Future," Post-Print hal-04200003, HAL.
    2. Zibei Chen & Terri Friedline & Catherine M. Lemieux, 2022. "A National Examination on Payday Loan Use and Financial Well-being: a propensity score matching Approach," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 678-689, December.
    3. Paola Boel & Peter Zimmerman, 2022. "Unbanked in America: A Review of the Literature," Economic Commentary, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, vol. 2022(07), pages 1-10, May.
    4. Mathieu Despard & Stephen Roll & Michal Grinstein‐Weiss & Bradley Hardy & Jane Oliphant, 2023. "Can behavioral nudges and incentives help lower‐income households build emergency savings with tax refunds? Evidence from field and survey experiments," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 245-263, January.
    5. Frederick F. Wherry & Vanessa Gail Perry, 2021. "Anti‐black currents in consumer affairs: An introduction to the special issue," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 356-365, June.
    6. Ian Dunham & Alec Foster, 2023. "FRINGE FINANCIAL ECOLOGIES AND PLACE‐BASED EXCLUSION: A Tale of Two Cities," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(6), pages 881-898, November.

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