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Black-owned banks across the country, including Savannah, Georgia-based Carver State Bank, are seeing an increase in applicants after recent protests against police brutality. "We've seen a tremendous increase in the number of inquiries about the bank and the number of accounts that have been opened," said Carver State Bank President Robert James. "In fact, on Monday and Tuesday of last week we probably opened as many accounts as we would probably open in a full month in two days... Most citizens can't take to the streets and demonstrate but they've found that one of the things they can do is to try to not feel so powerless about the spending of their money and the deposit of their money in banks.”
Kat Taylor, Co-CEO of Oakland, Calif.-based Beneficial State Bank, was interviewed for the cover story of Conscious Company Magazine: “[Capital] has been deployed [in harmful ways] because it got anonymized. As soon as the banking system got big enough and the deposits all went into this big black box, then the bankers on the other side felt entitled to lend it to anything that would maximize return... I believe we can take the banking system back and make it govern in the public interest... We wouldn’t want depositors saying, ‘Lend to this company,’ or, ‘Lend to that nonprofit,’ but they should be able to look at our quarterly and annual track records and say, ‘Yep, I’m comfortable with that lending practice, so I’m staying here,’ or, ‘Nope! I don’t want any part of that, so I’m getting out.’”
Community development information service Aeris has released a set of metrics intended as a starting point for CDFIs and other community investment institutions to collect and reporting standardized impact data. The toolkit evolved based on principles discussed at a series of meetings organized by Aeris, Partners for the Common Good and other organizations in the field. It is intended to advance a set of standardized metrics that would allow CDFIs to better understand their impact performance relative to peer institutions. The metrics allow both investors and investees to measure the aggregated impact of an investment portfolio over time and in the future, supporting comparative analysis of community development investments.
Deposits are up dramatically at black-owned banks across the country as a result of the Black Money Matters Project. The project started when a group of recording artists including Killer Mike and Usher urged their social media followers to support black-owned businesses in the wake of high-profile shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castileon by opening accounts at black-owned banks and credit unions. Boston-based OneUnited has brought in $3 million in deposits. Carver Federal Savings Bank in New York City has collected about $2.4 million in new deposits. And at Washington, D.C.-based Industrial Bank, CEO Doyle Mitchell writes that, "account opening volume has increased exponentially."
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta board of directors has elected Brian Argrett as its new District of Columbia member director. Mr. Argrett has served as president, chief executive officer, and director of City First Bank of D.C. since 2011. He also serves as chairman of the boards of directors for City First Enterprises and City First Foundation. Mr. Argrett currently serves as presidential appointee to the Community Development Advisory Board, chairman of the CDBA and director of the Washington D.C. Economic Partnership. “FHLBank Atlanta has been a reliable source of liquidity and risk management products for its members,” Mr. Argrett said. “I look forward to helping the bank meet its business objectives while representing the interests of the District of Columbia members.”
A recent GAO report assesses the status of the Community Development Capital Initiative (CDCI). Created in 2010, CDCI is a TARP program intended to help mitigate the effects of the financial crisis on underserved communities. As of March 31, 2016, the Department of the Treasury had 76 percent of the original CDCI investment outstanding and 57 institutions remained. Many of the remaining institutions are financially healthy and likely will be able to repay the investment before dividend and interest rates increase in 2018. In some cases, however, the increase will likely force institutions to reduce community development lending. Currently, Treasury officials have no plans to alter the terms of the program, but plan to continue meeting with CDCI participants to discuss winding down the program.
Partners for the Common Good (PCG) has released a new version of its CapNexus deal matching platform. CapNexus facilitates effective business relationships between capital seekers and capital providers by acting as a clearinghouse for ideas, experts and services. The new platform features an updated interface, refined search functionality and new promotional opportunities. It is free to sign up for CapNexus and start posting opportunity and deals. For more information about CapNexus membership, to request a demo or to learn more about promotional opportunities, please contact Carla Mannings and manningsc@pcgloanfund.org
San Diego start-up Employee Loan Solutions is working with St. Paul-based Sunrise Banks to help workers who live paycheck to paycheck take out small-dollar loans. Their TrueConnect program offers short-term loans — ones that carry a high interest rate but are still cheaper than typical payday loans. Sunrise Banks was the first company to offer TrueConnect loans to its own employees. It conducted a yearlong trial starting in late 2013 at the request of federal bank regulators, who then approved the program. "Like any employer, we think we pay our employees well, so why would they need this product?" bank President Nichol Beckstrand said. "What we found is a lot of people need it."
CDFI Bank Quontic Bank in New York has begun originating "Lite Doc" loans that feature streamlined income documentation requirements. But the new product also has stringent down-payment and credit score requirements, unlike no-doc, low-doc and stated-income mortgages from the early 2000s. The mortgages take advantage of Quontic’s CDFI status, which exempts the bank from the ability to repay and qualified mortgage rules. The exemptions were put in place to allow CDFIs to continue existing loan programs directed at underserved communities that might not meet the new, more stringent standards, said Jeannine Jacokes, chief executive of CDBA. “When the rule came out, many were concerned that the rules would not allow them to do the lending they had previously done,” Jacokes said, and ultimately the CFPB “didn’t want to disrupt our models that have worked well.”
Thanks to a Special Needs Assistance Program (SNAP) grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas and RiverHills Bank, Port Gibson, Miss. Resident Julia James was able to repair her roof and restore the foundation of her 80-year-old home. For years, James watched water drip through the ceiling of her bedroom and fill up the buckets she put out to catch the rain. James, who is on a fixed income, could not afford the critical home repairs on her own. In February 2016, she received a SNAP grant totaling $4,935. RiverHills Bank Senior Vice President David Blackledge acknowledges the important role SNAP grants play in the community. "SNAP grants help us make this community better and stronger," Mr. Blackledge said. "As a community bank, our goal is to serve this community, and we need programs like SNAP to do that."