Bill Farrow on Urban Partnership's Special Mission

ICBA Independent Banker
Friday, October 3, 2014

Urban Partnership Bank CEO Bill Farrow says his bank has revived Shorebank's mission of creating financial opportunity in Chicago and Detroit while turning around some of the troubled assets of the closed bank. For instance, Farrow estimates that Urban Partnership has saved 70 percent of the 300 failed church loans inherited from ShoreBank. Urban Partnership's lending has created or retained approximately 2,500 jobs over the past four years. It is also experimenting with new ways of reaching customers, including opening a branch in a Walmart store. The Walmart branch was a success, opening 100 new accounts in the first month alone.