The DUCA Impact Lab defines fair banking as any financial product or service that lives up to the following set of principles:
- Pricing is clear, transparent, and well understood
- Pricing is representative of the cost of funds, cost of administration and risk, rather than what the market will bear
- It is clear to all parties how any personal data is being used by the lender
- Personal data is only used for purposes agreed to by both the borrower and lender
- The terms and conditions, including penalties and the rights of each party are clearly explained and well understood by both lender and borrower
- Products are only recommended that will bring the borrower closer to their expressed goals
- The borrower is clear on what the institution will do (and not do), with deposits to earn a return
- The assessment of risk is objective, transparent and not prejudicial
- Financial institution recommendations are not biased towards in-house product recommendations
- Products empower consumers when they need access to financial services, not just when they do not
Their Fair Banking 2020 report presents data on the following areas:
- Debt load and its impact on Canadians
- Financial confidence
- Divide between borrowers and lenders
- How financial products are priced
- Poor credit and ability to access to financial product and services
- Demographic snapshot: People of colour and Indigenous Canadians
