Recent News
Nichol Beckstrand, President of Sunrise Banks & Holding Company was recently named one of the Smartest People in Payments by PayBefore Magazine. Read more to learn about how embracing innovation and having a tolerance for failure has led to her and the bank's continuing success.
Michael Burris' forward-thinking mentality and focus on strong management, earned him the accolade of Small Bank CFO of the Year Finalist in the Arkansas Business of the Year Awards. Burris' successes include guiding FNBC Bank out of the recession and into their largest asset size yet - just north of $400 million.
The FDIC recently released its National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households, the only major nationwide survey of financial inclusion and measures of the behaviors and attitudes of households likely to be excluded from the mainstream financial system. The biggest revelation was that unbanked households nationwide decreased from 7.7% in 2013 to 7.0% in 2015, which represents .5 million to 1 million new net households that have opened accounts in the past two years.
Since the most recent housing crisis, many loan modification programs were developed to protect financially struggling households from foreclosure. Based on several unique loan-level data sets, a newly released Federal Reserve study reports novel empirical evidence on how homeowners manage their credit before and after receiving modifications. This study demonstrates that interventions designed to improve household balance sheets could have a direct and sizable impact on borrower financial outcomes.
The First, A National Banking Association, has announced a merger with Gulf Coast Community Bank which will allow the banks to serve customers with 48 convenient locations in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida. The combined company will have approximately $1.6 billion in total assets, $1.4 billion in total deposits, and $1.1 billion in total loans.
After rigorous evaluation, Albina Community Bank joins ten other Certified B Corporation banks worldwide, which demonstrates their longstanding commitment to making an impact in the Portland, Oregon community. CDBA Members now make up 50% of all Certified B Corp. Banks with members Spring Bank, Beneficial State Bank, Sunrise Banks, and Virginia Community Capital already having secured their certification.
CDBA Members are consistently on the cutting edge of new technology and opportunities to maximize and publicize the social impact they are having in local communities across the country. Naturally therefore it is fitting that City First Bank & Southern Bancorp are the two first institutional members to join Mighty, a new platform that will help "small but powerful" banks connect with potential depositors or investors who might be swayed to pick a bank based on positive social impact.
Although Google announced in May that it would ban all payday loan advertisements through its AdWords service, months after the policy was implemented brokers that connect borrowers to payday lenders still buy Google ads. They appear to have easily sidestepped the company's rules, leaving consumers still vulnerable to high-cost debt traps that can ruin their financial lives.
Kat Taylor, CEO of Beneficial State Bank, makes an impassioned case for an overhaul of banking sector regulations to ensure that the industry aligns with the values of corporate social responsibility in this opinion piece in the San Francisco Business Times.
With growing rancor over the Wells Fargo Scandal, the New York Times published a resource guide for those who want to switch from a big bank to a more community-focused option. The article features a quote from Kat Taylor, CEO of Beneficial State Bank and encourages readers to check out the CDBA website.
Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL) applauds United Bank of Alabama for securing the largest USDA Community Facilities Relending Program loan in the country. The $40 million will be deployed to benefit the rural Southwestern Alabama & Northwest Florida communities.
This Comment Letter provides guidance to the CFPB on mechanisms to promote product innovation that can offer responsible alternatives to payday loans and provides a wealth of examples of alternative small dollar loans products offered or piloted by CDFI Banks.
Congratulations to City First Bank of DC on an incredible conference on the intersection of Commerce, Culture, & Community Development.
As part of their Community Banking in the 21st Century Research and Policy Conference, held annually, the Federal Reserve releases a selection of research papers that examine conditions and performance in the sector. Read more to see a profile of the articles featured.
The question of how to develop a national or statewide banking strategy to assist the black community is of the utmost importance. This article in the American Banker promotes a solution that involves cooperation between federal regulators such as the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the FDIC to work jointly with black-owned banks to make the largest impact.
First American International Bank CEO Mark Ricca is quoted in this engaging article about the expansive and fast growing real estate market within the Chinese American community in New York City.
The CDFI Fund publicized the awardees for the Financial Assistance, Technical Assistance, and Healthy Food Financing Intiative funds for FY2016. We congratualte the six CDBA members who won awards in this round: BankPlus (FA), Citizens National Bank of Meridian (FA), Neighborhood National Bank (TA), Spring Bank (FA), Southern Bancorp (FA), and Start Bank (FA). Click on Read More to see the full awards list.
Darrin Williams, CEO of Southern Bancorp discusses the impact of FinTech disruptors on small community banks' competitive edge in the consumer lending field in this article in American Banker.
The 109-year-old M & F Bank has long served as a catalyst for community economic development in Durham, North Carolina. Building off the bank's long-standing history, President & CEO James Sills discusses future opportunities for growth and diversification, positioning the bank to remain as an industry leader throughout the 21st century.
CDBA Members: Beneficial State Bank, Sunrise Banks, and Virginia Community Capital, earned the distinct honor of being ranked as a "B Corp Best for the World" company as they scored in the top 10% of all Certified B Corporations on the B Impact Assessment, a rigorous and comprehensive assessment of a company's impact on its workers, community, and the environment. Read more to access the full list of awardees.