News & Press

Earlier this month, Accion Opportunity Fund responded to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) request for comments on their proposal to offer a national special purpose charter to non-bank institutions.

Earlier this month Accion Opportunity Fund submitted comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding their proposed rule on payday, vehicle title, and certain high-cost installment loans.

The purpose of this study is to aggregate these activities—the direct, indirect, and induced economic effects of microloans—to calculate the “ripple effect” or macroeconomic impact of Opportunity Fund’s lending on California’s economy. Opportunity Fund (the lending arm of Accion Opportunity Fund) commissioned TXP, Inc. to measure this impact using objective, verified research methods because we…

On the heels of the Great Recession, a new breed of “alternative” lenders has emerged to offer small businesses much-needed access to credit. These new lenders are filling a void created after banks dramatically cut back on their lending to small businesses.

Accion Opportunity Fund is proud to participate in the EntrepreneurTracker Outcomes Survey to measure outcomes of our work.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently announced their two year policy priorities, which include this vision statement about small business lending.

On Monday, the White House released its Budget outline for FY2019, to begin on October 1, 2018. As expected, the budget eliminates major funding for the CDFI Fund including essential programs that enable Opportunity Fund, the lending arm of Accion Opportunity Fund, and others to deploy capital to underserved business owners across the nation.

Mark and Debra Leslie are long-time friends and supporters of Opportunity Fund. Last November, Mark and Debra were honored with the Outstanding Philanthropists award at the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Silicon Valley Philanthropy Day.

As a lender on the frontlines of the small business finance revolution, Accion Opportunity Fund has been calling attention to predatory lending practices for some time now. Because many of these concerning products are designed to avoid existing regulations, there is a need for policymakers to step in.

Over the weekend, California Governor Brown signed into law SB 197, which increases access to affordable capital for California’s 3.6 million small and microbusiness owners.