News
CDBA Member Carver Federal Savings Bank seeks a Chief Credit Officer to monitor and manage credit risk within the bank and its lending activities, including evaluating credit processes and actively participating in approval and risk management processes. This position reviews credits prior to submission to management loan committee and provides feedback to lenders.
New York City's Spring Bank is putting new innovations in behavioral economics into practice to help low-income customers improve their finances. Recent scholarship in the field focuses on how incentives can be structured to "nudge" people toward good decisions. Spring Bank's Borrow-and-Save loan puts that concept into practice. It encourages savings by requiring borrowers to put 25% of the loan amount into a savings account that can only be accessed at the end of the loan term. A customer who borrows $500 would receive $375. The other $125 would be set aside as savings. "If we come out with a sustainable, responsible product, we're going to cut the legs out from under some other products," says Brian Blake, Spring Bank vice president.
When Ridgeland, Miss.-based BankPlus started offering its Credit Plus product as a safe alternative to payday loans, CEO Bill Ray expected most of the business would be from financially precarious low-income borrowers. But Ray was surprised to find that many customers were not low-income -- rather, they were middle-income borrowers who had fallen on hard times and "never had any financial literacy training and got caught up in the payday lending habit." The product offers low-interest loans up to $1,000 for consumers who agree to open accounts at the bank and enroll in a financial literacy seminar. To date, 14,500 have received consumer loans from the bank and 80% of those borrowers still have accounts at the bank.
The CDFI Fund is soliciting public comment on the Bank Enterprise Award Program Application. The CDFI fund has asked for specific comment on the practical utility of data being collected in the application and how they can enhance the quality of that information. The Fund also seeks input on the burden of assembling the data and suggestions for easing the burden, including through technology. In addition, the Fund has requested estimates of costs of operation required to provide the requested information. All comments must be submitted by February 23, 2015.
Virginia Community Capital President and CEO and CDBA Chairman Jane Henderson has been appointed to Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe's Commonwealth Council on Bridging the Nutritional Divide. The council aims to eliminate childhood hunger with nutritional assistance programs, increase access to healthy local foods, and facilitate local healthy-living initiatives. Virginia Community Capital is doing its part with a loan to Seven Hills Food, which plans to open a meat processing facility in Lynchburg. The plant is expected to create a new market for local farmers while creating 43 jobs. “VCC is excited to be able to help Seven Hills Food expand meat processing capacity across Virginia, thereby increasing the Commonwealth’s residents’ access to local foods," said Senior Loan Officer Dawn DeHart.
Southern Bancorp of Arkadelphia, Ark. is buying Bank of Bolivar County, a small $15.9 million-asset Mississippi Delta bank. Bank of Bolivar County has two locations: one full-service office and one limited service branch. These will build on Southern Bancorp Bank's presence in Bolivar County, where it currently operates one branch. The acquisition marks a step forward for Southern Bancorp's efforts to increase the availability of capital to Mississippi residents; the bank is also in the process of adding its third branch in Hot Springs, Miss.
The modifications to Dodd-Frank included in the recent omnibus bill marks what could be the first in a series of attempts to modify the regulatory legislation. With Republican majorities taking hold in the House and Senate and some Democrats showing willingness to compromise on the legislation, Wall Street advocates see an opportunity to secure less restrictive regulations. Among the likely flashpoints is a proposal to restructure the CFPB by allowing Congress to set its budget and setting agency policy with a bipartisan commission rather than a single director. Regulatory relief is also a likely target, including new requirements that agencies pursue more cost-benefit analysis when writing rules.
The Senate has adjourned for the year without acting on a bill that would require one of the seven members of the Fed’s board of governors to be a community banker. The Senate had initially approved the measure, inserted into a bill passed by the House that extended the federal terrorism insurance program. But the Senate was unable to pass the final bill before adjourning. Sen. David Vitter (R., La.) proposed the legislation, saying a person with small-bank experience would act as a balance to board members from academic backgrounds. He plans to resurrect the proposal as a standalone bill and will look for opportunities to amend it to other pieces of legislation.
Urban Partnership Bank has announced it is now a certified CDFI in Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, affirming the bank's commitment to the Detroit area. The bank was also recertified in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois. In addition, the bank has announced that their board of directors is now a 12-member team with the addition of Michael Lewis. Lewis served as regional president and executive vice president of the Chicago Metro Region of BMO Harris Bank until his retirement in 2013. “The CDFI designations and the addition of Mike Lewis to our board further underscore our commitment to serve neglected communities and build a better future,” said Urban Partnership Bank CEO William Farrow.
OneUnited Bank will be providing a $10,000 gift to jump start the Employ Miami-Dade initiative. The goal of the initiative is to centralize resources for locals to get workplace readiness training and jobs. Employ Miami-Dade will first target the construction industry, helping local workers get hired by the construction firms which are tackling the county's current building boom. Trainees who qualify will receive a bi-weekly stipend of $250, initially funded by OneUnited's $10,000 gift. OneUnited's commitment to the initiative will extend long-term; the bank will provide workers financial education, helping them establish banking relationships and create budgets. “We want to share knowledge of how to save for a rainy or sunny day,” Williams said.