Recent News
Black banks need to embrace technology to remain relevant in the 21st century, says OneUnited Bank COO Teri Williams in a new interview. “There has been a decline in banks in general. There also has been a decline in community banks that were the size of a lot of the Black banks that went out of business... Part of what we realized is there were a lot of Black banks with a great mission, but they didn’t have the economies of scale to invest in new technology... and we acquired four banks and combined them into one.OneUnited is attracting black customers from across the... Read more
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... Read more
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... Read more
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... Read more
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... Read more
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... Read more
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... Read more
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... Read more
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... Read more
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... Read more
At Virginia Community Capital’s 10 year anniversary celebration, the bank highlighted success stories across Virginia. Keith Sanders’ screen printing business, Classic Creations, started as a hobby. But when friends encouraged him to turn it into a business, he began looking at how and where he could start his shop. With a grant from the Virginia Tobacco Commission, he found the building and had orders under way but no financing in place. After being turned down by traditional banks, he was introduced to VCC. “The banks kept saying no, no, no,” said Sanders. “[B]ut VCC... Read more
Sunrise Banks is breaking ground on a new 57,000-square-foot headquarters. The 200-employee company currently has holding company employees spread across three locations, a holdover from the 2013 merger of Franklin, Park Midway and University banks into Sunrise Banks. The new building will allow Sunrise to consolidate those employees at a single location. Sunrise also intends to sublease space to a nonprofit corporation and build a training room that it will rent to community organizations. The new Sunrise headquarters will be part of the transformation of a distressed... Read more
Partners for the Common Good is now accepting listings for the relaunch of its CapNexus networking platform. CapNexus enables loan originators, interested buyers and financing partners to post community development lending opportunities and build partnerships. CapNexus 2.0 will expand on that core functionality with improved search tools and groundbreaking networking features for sharing news, promoting services and more. Listings on CapNexus reach an audience of more than 2,000 community development professionals. Now is the ideal time to submit listings in order... Read more
In a new report, Southern Bancorp Community Partners investigates the impact of the 2009 Arkansas interest rate cap that effectively ended the storefront payday lending business in the state. In a survey of former payday borrowers, 59% of respondents felt their lives had improved since payday lending was banned. Without access to payday loans, respondents adapted with a variety of alternatives including working longer hours, getting loans from friends or banks and using credit cards to meet their financial needs. The survey also revealed an interesting rift between... Read more
First Southwest Bank partnered with eight schools to teach over 360 fourth graders the importance of developing savings goals, tracking money spent and money earned, and delayed gratification. The lessons are part of the American Bankers Association Foundation's Teach Children to Save Day. “Familiarizing students with money management and savings fundamentals at an early age decreases their chances of falling prey to predatory lenders later,” said First Southwest Bank CEO Kent Curtis. “Teach Children to Save Day is an opportunity for our employees to teach financial... Read more
The FDIC has issued a call for comments on the agency's evaluation of the economic inclusion potential of mobile financial services. Current regulations, the CRA in particular, generally do not consider the emerging benefits of mobile financial services to underserved consumers who lack branch access. This has created challenges for banks attempting to overcome CRA-based objections to merger and acquisition plans. Before the emergence of mobile banking, banks used branch mapping to overcome these objections. But now, many banks are downsizing their branch footprints, making it harder to... Read more
Credit Builders Alliance has opened registration for its 3rd annual Credit Building Symposium in July 13 and 14 in Washington, D.C. The symposium fosters dialogue between nonprofit organizations involved in credit building and corporate and government entities whose practices include credit reporting, credit scoring and credit granting. Key topics will include the linkage between credit building and the broader issues of income inequality, poverty reduction and asset building. Addressing these issues is of critical importance as wealth inequality has continued to widen along racial and... Read more
John Melone, Pan American Bank Vice President, Business Relationship Officer and Palatine Office Manager was honored by the Palatine Township Senior Citizens Council for his volunteer service. Melrose Park, Ill.-based Pan American Bank has been a sponsoring partner of the council since 2014. In that time, the bank has donated close to $10,000 in the form of sponsorships and donations. “It is an honor and a pleasure to work side by side with this organization in helping them help our senior community,” said Melone. “It means a lot to me to be involved with the PTSCC, since... Read more
Groupe Nduom, a business group composed of Ghanian and American investors, has acquired Illinois-Service Federal Savings Bank. The acquisition started last year, when the ISF Board of Directors approved a recapitalization transaction that allowed it to come back from its post-recession troubles. "Our investment will enable the Bank to build upon its legacy by providing a suite of innovative financial services and products to address its customers' needs,” said Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, Chairman of the Groupe Nduom. “This investment helps ensure that minority focused banks... Read more