WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has finalized revisions to its Section 1071 small-business lending rule, scaling back requirements from its 2023 framework and setting a single compliance deadline of Jan. 1, 2028.
The rule implements Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires lenders to collect and report data on small-business credit applications, including those from women- and minority-owned firms, to help regulators identify potential discrimination and improve market transparency.
According to the Bureau and summaries of the final action, the revised rule narrows the scope of covered institutions and simplifies data collection requirements.
“Credit unions are aligned with the goals of Section 1071 to ensure small business lending is meeting community development needs and is accessible to all lenders, particularly those owned by women and minorities,” America’s Credit Unions President and CEO Scott Simpson said in a statement. “These goals are woven into the credit union mission. But as we often see, the original rulemaking was significantly burdensome and would have had an adverse effect on small business lending. We appreciate the bureau reconsidering this rule, listening to credit unions, and providing meaningful relief.”
The Key Changes
Among the key changes, the CFPB:
- Raised the threshold for covered lenders to those originating at least 1,000 small-business loans annually, up from 100 in the original rule
- Reduced the definition of a “small business” to firms with $1 million or less in annual revenue, down from $5 million
- Eliminated several discretionary data points that had been required under the 2023 rule and removed certain procedural requirements governing how lenders must collect demographic information from applicants.
- Replaced the prior tiered compliance schedule with a single implementation date, saying it was giving affected institutions more time to prepare and aligning compliance across the industry.
As the CU Daily previously reported, the revisions follow a reconsideration process launched in late 2025, when the bureau said it intended to reduce complexity, improve data quality and limit potential disruptions to small-business credit markets while still meeting the statute’s fair-lending objectives.
The CFPB said the updated rule is intended to balance those concerns with the law’s mandate to enhance transparency in small-business lending and support enforcement of fair-lending laws.
