Recent News
Carver State Bank President Bob James was featured as the keynote speaker at the Savannah Morning News' Business in Savannah luncheon. James has had the longest tenure at a single bank of any bank president in the state of Georgia, with 44 years of service. The bank, which was founded by Louis B. Toomer in 1927, is also the oldest bank headquartered in Savannah. “I grew up in an environment that had an enormous appreciation for the value of education and training as well as community involvement, so we’ve tried to incorporate those values into the culture and routine... Read more
Michael Pugh, CEO of New York City-based Carver Bancorp and a CDBA Board member, was honored by the Union Settlement Association for his contributions to the fields of finance and community development. “We are delighted to present this award to Michael in recognition of his leadership and Carver’s commitment to serving the diverse banking needs of lower- to middle-income communities across Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens,” said David Nocenti, Executive Director of Union Settlement. Mr. Nocenti added, “As East Harlem’s oldest and largest social service provider, our... Read more
Beneficial State Bank is hosting the Oakland Indie Awards on May 12th to honor local businesses and artists who have a positive social and environmental impact the Bay Area economy. The event features an evening packed with live music and entertainment, local food vendors, interactive art exhibitions, and an Indie Marketplace featuring local artisans. “We’re so excited to be in our tenth year of supporting local at the Oakland Indie Awards! This year’s event, our love letter to Oakland, will pay special homage to those who’ve been in Oakland for a long time, doing great... Read more
A new report by The Urban Institute distills the community development agenda set forth at the Equitable Economic Development East of the River conference organized by the City First Foundation, an affiliate of City First Bank of D.C. The purpose of the conference was to address how D.C. can bring more of its newfound prosperity to neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River. Many structural barriers, including a lack of public and private investment, have prevented communities east of the river from sharing in the prosperity that other parts of DC are enjoying. The report... Read more
Virginia Community Capital has released a new annual report marking its 10th anniversary. The bank was founded in 2006 with a mandate from the Commonwealth of Virginia to use $15 million in start-up capital to bolster economic development in underserved areas. Today, they have leveraged that initial investment into $766 million in financing dollars. Virginia Community Capital has originated $320 million in loans, financing 4,719 affordable housing units and 9 health care facilities. And they have financed local businesses like Essel Propack, a product packaging company... Read more
April is Community Banking Month and United Bank is encouraging consumers and small business owners to “bank locally” by finding a hometown bank. United Bank is celebrating community banking throughout the spring as a sponsor of various local events. United Bank will also support schools across its footprint by participating in the Teach Children to Save financial literacy effort. "When customers bank locally and shop locally, they directly impact their communities,” said Bob Jones, president and CEO of United Bank. “Customers can be confident knowing the funds they... Read more
San Diego-based Neighborhood National Bank has agreed to beef up its anti-money laundering capabilities in a deal that will stave off enforcement proceedings from the OCC. The bank has pledged to develop a more robust risk compliance program to meet its obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act. The bank has hired a new senior vice president with extensive BSA experience to help formulate the plan. President Dan Yates said Neighborhood National draws extra scrutiny because its typical clients are businesses in low- to moderate-income areas that deal primarily in cash. “We are... Read more
The CDFI Fund has combined the 2015 and the CY 2016 New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation authorities into a single allocation round. This change will be accompanied by an increase for the combined CY 2015 – 2016 round from $5 billion to $7 billion. The change to the program results from recent federal legislation that extended authorization for the NMTC Program for five calendar years with $3.5 billion in annual NMTC allocation authority. This change will allow the CDFI Fund to announce the allocation of the tax credits in the year for which they are authorized. It will also enable the... Read more
OneUnited Bank has announced plans to move its national headquarters from its current office in Boston's Financial District to a new larger location in Roxbury or Dorchester. Although just 7 percent of OneUnited Bank's $356 million in deposits are held in Massachusetts, the expansion signals the bank's growing emphasis on its Boston-based online and mobile banking team. OneUnited Bank President Teri Williams said an expanded headquarters in Boston fits OneUnited’s stated mission to help underserved banking customers. “It represents the right kind of challenge for an... Read more
CDBA member City First Bank of D.C. has several open positions.
Underwriting Specialist
The underwriting specialist is responsible for reviewing loan applications from individuals and businesses, calculating credit risk and recommending a decision on the application. Duties include spreading and analyzing a customer’s financial information, assessing collateral, conducting industry comparisons, assessing the risk rating and... Read more
Virginia Community Capital has acquired benefit-corporation status, enabling the bank to write a social mission into its corporate charter. While B-Corporations are still required to pursue profitability, their management and directors must also weigh societal benefits along with shareholder value in evaluating performance. B Lab, the main advocates of the movement, also offer their own certification to corporations independent of state status. Currently, B Lab has certified just four banks: Virginia Community Capital, Sunrise Banks in St. Paul, Minn.,... Read more
OneUnited Bank has announced a new initiative, Bank for the Future, which will refocus their services on online banking. As part of the tech-oriented strategy, the bank is launching remote deposit capture, a Visa business debit card, online chat and a conversion of its online platform. The plan also calls for shrinking the bank’s branch footprint by closing two Los Angeles branches and moving to a new Boston headquarters location. The plan is designed to respond to decreased branch traffic as customers increasingly rely on internet and mobile banking solutions. “Banking is... Read more
Elkins Park, Penn.-based NOAH Bank has sued Duluth, Ga.-based NOA Bank alleging trademark infringement, false designation of origin and description and unfair competition. NOAH Bank representatives said the suit stems from NOA Bank’s recent hiring of a former NOAH officer and the opening by NOA Bank of a loan production office in New York in March 2016. NOAH alleges NOA has intentionally engaged in a scheme to confuse customers and prospects of NOAH in an effort to steal business. In particular, NOAH claims NOA targeted the Korean-American community it serves by adopting... Read more
City National Bank of New Jersey and online payments platform PayToo have announced a partnership to launch a mobile wallet designed for bank customers as well as unbanked consumers. The partnership will give users the security of FDIC insurance and the convenience of a mobile wallet. PayToo allows users to perform online banking, deposit paychecks, pay bills and transfer money person to person. The partnership also gives users access to the PayToo network of cardless ATMs and multi-service centers as well as City National Bank’s network of 55,000 surcharge free ATMs. “... Read more
NCIF’s annual CDFI banking industry report shows the performance of the CDFI banking sector is continuing to improve. As a group, CDFI banks surpass the average U.S. bank in several performance metrics, such as net interest margin — with CDFI banks at 3.93 percent compared to the median of all U.S. banks at 3.58 percent. CDFI banks’ assets, deposits and capital base also showed steady improvement. CDFI banks also performed strongly in NCIF’s social performance metrics, Development Deposit Intensity (DDI), which measures the concentration of a bank’s branches in low- and moderate-income... Read more
Low income families in Mississippi will receive much-needed home repairs thanks to a $496,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant provided by BankPlus and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas. Edward Matthews is one of 60 Holmes County, Miss. residents whose homes benefited from the AHP grant. Matthews tarred his leaky roof for eight years. “When it would rain, I'd go to the hardware store and get some tar, then in the attic, I had to guess where the leaks were in the roof. Sometimes I'd guess right," Mr. Matthews said. The situation went from bad to worse when Matthews... Read more
In a piece for the Ford Foundation’s Equals Change Blog, Sunrise Banks CEO David Reiling writes that before banks can displace predatory lenders, they will need to consider the perspective of unbanked customers: “Why do consumers go to high-interest payday lenders to get small-dollar loans— and in the process rack up hundreds or thousands of dollars in debt—rather than to banks or credit unions? The answer is that most banks and credit unions simply don't offer small dollar loans... And while traditional checking and savings products are good and well tested, they are... Read more
OneUnited Bank and HBCU Pride Nation, a marketing company focused on historically black colleges and universities, have announced a partnership aimed at using social and digital media to increase financial literacy and deposits into Black-owned banks. The partnership is focused on spreading awareness of Black-owned banks on college campuses and encouraging students to reinvest their deposits into Black owned financial institutions. The partners intend to reach students through social media channels including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The goal is to reach and... Read more
Beneficial State Bank and Foundation have officially opened nominations for the 2016 Oakland Indie Awards, which honor Oakland’s businesses and independent artists. The awards are focused on building prosperity in the local economy by celebrating the social, economic and environmental impacts of supporting local commerce. “As we face rapid change in Oakland, we know that the Oakland Indie Awards is an ever-important mainstay in our community that serves to lift up the independent businesses and artists who give back so much to our city,” said Beneficial State’s Community... Read more