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They are seen as critical to expanding financial inclusion to minority groups left out of many parts of the broader financial system.

Initially announced in October, Project REACh began under Brooks' leadership and has been a centerpiece of his work on financial inclusion — especially before Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee, unhappy with his focus on cryptocurrencies.

At the beginning of November, Brooks appeared before the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Commmittee to report on the OCC's activities.

As mentioned before, it was Democrats from the former committee who criticized Brooks' focus on crypto as a distraction from the duties of expanding financial access

However, Democratic representatives like Houston's Al Green, who has spent many years backing minority financial access on the Financial Services Committee, seemed impressed with Project REACh at last month's hearing.