Federal: AFC Letter to President Trump in Support of 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act

The Honorable Donald J. Trump
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500

Re: Letter in Support of 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.

Dear Mr. President,

On behalf of the American Fintech Council (AFC),  I write to urge you to sign into law H.R.6644, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,  which passed the House of Representatives and the Senate this week. The provisions included in this bipartisan package represent practical reforms that would strengthen the ability of community banks to serve consumers, expand access to credit, and support affordability in communities across the country.

A standards-based organization, the American Fintech Council (AFC) is the largest and most diverse trade association representing financial technology (fintech) companies and innovative banks. On behalf of over 150 member companies and partners, AFC promotes a transparent, inclusive, and customer-centric financial system by supporting responsible innovation in financial services and encouraging sound public policy. AFC members foster competition in consumer finance and pioneer products to better serve underserved consumer segments and geographies.

As outlined in AFC’s March 2025 letter to the House Financial Services Committee on their “Make Community Banking Great Again” principles, community banks and their fintech partners play an essential role in serving consumers, particularly those in historically underserved communities, through modern, digital-first banking services.  However, these institutions continue to face disproportionate regulatory and supervisory burdens that can limit their ability to compete and to meet the credit needs of their customers. The federal government has an important opportunity to address these challenges by enacting targeted regulatory tailoring measures that allow community banks to focus resources on serving consumers.

AFC has consistently advocated for these provisions to be included in bipartisan legislative packages in 2025 and 2026.  Community banks remain a cornerstone of local lending and community development, and innovative banks are increasingly bringing this local approach to a national stage. Providing this targeted regulatory flexibility helps ensure these institutions can deploy capital to support housing supply, homeownership, and investment in communities. AFC is grateful that the final bipartisan package includes key community banking provisions, in particular the following bills that will strengthen community banks’ ability to serve customers while promoting access to financial services for more Americans: These bills include:

• Tailored Regulatory Updates for Supervisory Testing (TRUST) Act. The TRUST Act would update the thresholds for extended examination cycles for well-managed institutions to reflect changes in the banking landscape over time. We support updating the asset threshold for community banks to qualify for an extended 18-month examination cycle from $3 billion to $6 billion. This commonsense change reflects the realities of inflation and industry consolidation while maintaining appropriate safety and soundness standards.

• Advancing the Mentor-Protégé Program for Small Financial Institutions Act. This legislation directs the Department of the Treasury to establish a mentor-protégé program pairing large financial institutions with small, rural, and minority depository institutions, with the goal of enhancing their capacity to serve customers and potentially act as financial agents.

AFC appreciates your Administration’s leadership on addressing the issues of affordability and Congress’s work to deliver this bipartisan agreement. We respectfully urge you to sign H.R.6644 into law. Enacting these community banking provisions would help ensure that community banks remain strong partners in expanding access to credit and supporting affordability. Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to continuing to work with your Administration on expanding access to financial services for all Americans.

Sincerely,

Ian P. Moloney
Chief Policy Officer
American Fintech Council

[1] AFC’s membership spans technology platforms, non-bank lenders, banks, payments providers, loan servicers, credit bureaus, and personal financial management companies.
[2] 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, as amended, 119th Cong., 2nd Sess., 2026, available at https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20260518/HR6644_RES4_xml%20(1).pdf
[3] American Fintech Council, “Request for Feedback on ‘Make Community Banking Great Again’ Principles and Slate of Bills” (Mar. 31, 2025), available at https://www.fintechcouncil.org/advocacy/federal-afc-letter-to-house-financial-services-committee-on-principles-to-make-community-banking-great-again.
[4] American Fintech Council, “Letter Urging Inclusion of Banking Legislation in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026” (Dec. 8, 2025) available at https://fintechcouncil.org/advocacy/afc-letter-urging-inclusion-of-banking-legislation-in-the-national-defense-authorization-act-for-fiscal-year-2026 and American Fintech Council, “Letter of Support for Inclusion of Key Community Banking Provisions in 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act” (Mar. 11, 2026) available at https://fintechcouncil.org/advocacy/federal-afc-letter-of-support-for-inclusion-of-key-community-banking-provisions-in-21st-century-road-to-housing-act.

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