JPMorgan Chase has started to collect data on race and ethnicity from some borrowers, a departure from the norm in US banking, as part of an effort aimed at making good on promises to do more for the black community after the police murder of George Floyd.

Following Floyd’s killing in 2020, JPMorgan pledged to spend $30bn by the end of 2025 to address the racial wealth gap through initiatives including $14bn in mortgages and small business loans for black and Latino communities.

But measuring the effects of such initiatives is difficult, according to banking executives. In most cases, asking for a customer’s race or ethnicity for lending purposes is illegal. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) of 1974 prevents lenders from collecting, recording or considering a person’s race, national origin or other protected characteristics — with certain exemptions for lenders trying to better serve disadvantaged borrowers.