News
The CDFI Fund is calling for interested CDFIs to submit ideas for the FY 2016 CDFI Prize Competition. The FY 2016 CDFI Prize Competition aims to recognize and promote innovative ideas that remove barriers to accessing capital in rural areas, especially areas of persistent poverty. Both existing solutions and solutions under development are applicable. Up to $1 million is available for awards through the competition. The deadline for competition submissions is July 29, 2016.
Chef and entrepreneur Darryl Burnette is opening a new restaurant in Harlem thanks to a loan from Spring Bank. Burnette had been working as a chef for four years when he decided to pursue his dream of starting his own restaurant. When bigger banks turned him away, he was referred to Spring Bank. Spring Bank is a certified CDFI and B-Corporation, which means it makes small loans for both its bottom line and to help the community. Spring Bank's Harlem branch approved a $60,000 loan for Burnette’s restaurant, Belle Harlem. "The biggest challenge was securing the small loan that helped us get over the final hump,” said Burnette. ”Luckily, they believed in the project, and more importantly, believed in the neighborhood."
Chicago-based Seaway Bank & Trust is initiating a capital-raising campaign that could come at the expense of its status as the largest black-owned bank in the Midwest. The bank has suffered $16 million in total losses over the past five quarters, putting its capital below the minimum needed for the bank to be deemed “adequately capitalized” by regulators. Compounding the losses is the bank's lack of stable leadership. The bank remains without a CEO since the departure in September of Darrell Jackson, who led Seaway for only a year before his exit. Executive Chairman Veranda Dickens has stepped in the interim. The bank also payed more than $9 million in fees to consultants and advisors last year. Seaway is now preparing to raise more than $15 million in fresh capital, which would likely require the bank to take on new investors regardless of their race.
City First Bank of D.C.'s spring newsletter highlights efforts to revitalize distressed neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River. The newly developed RiverEast affordable housing dwelling will provide 46 new townhouse units affordable for those who cannot afford the city’s skyrocketing prices. Of the 46 units, 43 are for families earning less than $65,000 a year and the remaining three for families with annual incomes below $32,580. City First has also deployed New Markets Tax Credit financing in the area to organizations including charter schools, art programs, housing developments and other social service providers.
Pan American Bank has awarded a total of $1,600 in college scholarships to high school seniors in Cook County, IL as part of the Community Bankers Association of Illinois Essay Scholarship Program. Pan American Bank selected Yzabelle Tud as the $1,500 first place entry and Marquan Jones as the second place $100 entry. Pan American Bank’s highest scoring entries will now compete in the statewide CBAI scholarship competition that will distribute up to $23,000 in scholarship awards. "Community involvement is our number one priority at Pan American Bank and we are extremely proud to be able to bring this opportunity to young members of our community," said Pan American Bank Executive Vice President & Compliance Officer Mary Schroeder.
Carver Federal Savings Bank Chief Lending Officer Blondel Pinnock and Carver Community Development Corporation President Takisia Whites were recent guests on Marc Clarke’s “In Focus” radio show on 103.9 FM in New York City. Pinnock and Whites highlighted Carver’s approach to working with minority and women-owned business enterprises through its Small Business Mentoring Program. They also discussed Carver’s use of technology, such as the Carver mobile banking app, to reach millennial customers and young entrepreneurs. “Carver’s mission-based approach to banking has been part of our DNA since our founding in 1948,” said Pinnock. “Carver reinvests $0.83 of each deposit dollar we take in back into the communities we serve through a variety of consumer and small business loan products.”
Quontic Bank, a CDFI bank in New York City, is offering a new "Lite Doc" mortgage product. Like all CDFIs, Quontic is exempt from the new "ability-to-repay," or ATR, rules established under Dodd-Frank legislation. The new Lite Doc mortgages take advantage of that exemption, requiring only verification of employment and two months’ worth of bank statements. In contrast, most loan applications today require two years of 1040 income tax statements, two years of employment W2s and at least four pay stubs, in addition to bank statements and credit checks. The Lite Doc loans take the form of five-year adjustable-rate mortgages with interest rates in the low-to mid-5 percent range.
D.C.-based Industrial Bank has named Lisa Porter as its new senior vice president and chief financial officer. Porter's extensive financial management experience includes strategic planning, financial reporting and managing audits. "I am excited to be working with such a wonderful organization, filled with people who have a mission to give back to the community," Porter said. "Through my contribution in the finance division, my desire is to afford Industrial Bank an opportunity to extend its community outreach efforts." Industrial Bank President and CEO B. Doyle Mitchell hailed the hire as a step forward for the bank's community development work. "This is definitely a big moment for us as Ms. Porter brings a wealth of knowledge and experience relative to finance and community banking."
James Slocum, CIO of OneUnited Bank, discussed the role technology plays in the bank’s strategy in an interview: "After the financial crisis, we recognized that our customer base in particular was pretty hard-hit by the recession, that their credit was damaged, and that they lacked the financial tools to dig themselves out of that pit that had been created by the financial downturn. In 2013, we started building our UNITY Visa secured credit card product... That particular project was a strategic one for the institution, as we saw it as our re-entry to offering online products and services to our customers nationally. Salesforce became the medium by which we’ve been able to both have a connection with our customers and be secure."
The CFPB has proposed a new rule that will apply to payday loans, auto title loans, deposit advance products and certain high-cost installment and open-end loans. The rule would create new ability-to-repay requirements calling for lenders to ensure the borrower will have enough income to afford the loan while meeting their other financial obligations and living expenses. Lenders would also be barred from offering a “roll-over” loan to customers within 30 days of their previous loan. Lenders would be required to use credit reporting systems to report and obtain information on certain loans covered by the proposal. The proposal would also limit repeated debit attempts that can rack up more fees and may make it harder for consumers to get out of debt.