Recent News
Clifton Forge’s historic Masonic Theatre is entering a new chapter of its long history thanks to financing from Virginia Community Capital. Until its temporary closure in 1987, the Masonic Theatre was the oldest operating theater in Virginia. Designed in turn of the century beaux-arts style, the theater once played host to acts including Gene Autrey, Burl Ives, and the Count Basie Orchestra. Now, in time for its 111th year, the three-story theatre will be refurbished into a new performing arts, entertainment, education and community facility. Virginia Community Capital has... Read more
The Illinois Bankers Association has presented the Illinois Bank Financial Literacy award to First Eagle Bank in Chicago. The award honors the bank for a number of initiatives that provide critical training and key resources to its community. First Eagle Bank has partnered with the IBA's EverFi program to sponsor two elementary schools in Hanover Park. Through EverFi, First Eagle provides free online financial literacy training that has reached more than 750 students since 2013. The bank has also presented financial literacy education to residents of Deborah's Place, a... Read more
An analysis by the New York Federal Reserve finds that low-income neighborhoods are increasingly devolving into “banking deserts” with inadequate financial services. The researchers found that people in low-income tracts are 80 percent more likely to live in a banking desert than their counterparts in higher income tracts. From 2009 to 2014, the fraction of residents living in low-income tracts that are also banking deserts increased by about 0.2 percentage points, more than twice the rate for residents in higher income tracts. However, the analysis also found that residents of majority-... Read more
The CDFI Fund has launched a new mandatory annual certification report for all certified CDFIs. The new report will allow the CDFI Fund to annually assess certified CDFIs’ compliance with certification rules. All certified CDFIs must comply with the annual reporting to maintain their certification. The new process replaces the previously-implemented three year term for certification. Reporting deadlines will be based upon the CDFI’s fiscal year end. The reporting deadlines will be April 30, 2016 for organizations whose fiscal years end from April 1, 2015 to September 30, 2015 and July 31,... Read more
As part of the 27th Annual Savannah Black Heritage Festival, the directors and staff of Carver State Bank led a group of community leaders, bank customers and other supporters to the monument honoring the bank’s founder, Louis B. Toomer. Toomer was one of Savannah’s prominent business and civic leaders, and was appointed by President Eisenhower to serve as Register of the U.S. Treasury from 1953-1956. In his remarks, Carver President Robert E. James said that one of the great tests of pioneering leaders is that the causes and institutions they champion continue long after... Read more
BankPlus' new office complex is contributing to the revitalization of Jackson, Mississippi. The 67,000 square foot BankPlus complex will be an anchor development in the area, showcasing 17,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. The new BankPlus office will house a range of financial services including commercial lending, commercial real estate, private banking, wealth management and business development. Construction on the building will begin in early March with an opening slated for April 2017. “We cannot think of a better location to combine all of these... Read more
Industrial Bank is responding to changing demographics and customer needs by transitioning from a culture emphasizing its friendly, family-owned roots to more businesslike service efficiency. Key to the shift have been the efforts of Vice President and Director of Human Resources Lynne Rowe, who has worked to adjust staff expectations about what constitutes good service and high performance. Measuring efficiency and expediting transactions is becoming as important as friendly, flexible service, Rowe says. During the culture conversion, Rowe spent considerable time engaging... Read more
A new initiative proposed by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe would help Virginia Community Capital finance more grocery stores, eliminating food deserts in communities throughout the state. The proposed Virginia Grocery Investment Fund is a $10 million fund devoted to creating a viable business model for financing grocery stores in low-income urban and rural communities that lack access to healthy foods. Under the plan, Virginia Community Capital would invest $15 million of its own money in financing grocery stores, then seek an additional $75 million from federal grants... Read more
A new collaboration between City National Bank of New Jersey, Clearshift and East Coast Capital Holdings aims to facilitate currency exchange with lower fees. The new platform relies on the millions of currency changes that occur on a daily basis in opposite directions. One company may need to exchange euros for dollars, while another company needs to exchange dollars for euros. The platform allows these exchanges to be done, to the greatest extent possible, as a P2P exchange. Clearshift makes up the difference in cases where an exact match can’t be found. As an additional... Read more
Teri Williams, president and chief operating officer of OneUnited Bank, appears in the new film "Black Friday: What Legacy Will You Leave?" produced by Ric Mathis of Mathis Multimedia Group. The goal of the film is to enhance the perception of the financial services industry within urban communities. The film covers a range of topics affecting the finances of Black communities, including challenges accessing financial literacy training, low savings and the absence of support for African-American owned businesses. “I’m honored to be a part of this film and thrilled that... Read more
Bronx-based Spring Bank is expanding unbanked customers’ access to banking with a variety of innovative services. The bank’s signature consumer loan program, Borrow and Save, encourages savings by placing 25% of the loan amount into a savings account. The bank also partners with nonprofit employers on its Employee Opportunity Loan Program, which provides loans as an employee benefit. Now, Spring Bank has formed a partnership with financial self-assessment tool Happy Mango to develop an online lending platform that offers an alternative to traditional credit ratings. The... Read more
A new online payment platform from City National Bank of New Jersey aims to disrupt the foreign currency payment space. Using the platform, businesses will be able to easily pay foreign counterparties in virtually any currency with transparent and low-cost fees. The platform will also be made available as a white-label solution for other community banks. The service is being developed under a partnership with international financial services company Clearshift Group and specialized small business investment company East Coast Capital Holdings. "This venture is an example... Read more
The New York State CDFI Coalition, a group that includes New York City-based Spring Bank, is renewing its push for a state-level version of the CDFI Fund. Their advocacy started in the mid-2000’s and succeeded in establishing the New York State CDFI Fund. But the agency has never received any actual funding, the victim of a perfect storm that included Governor Eliot Spitzer’s resignation and the 2009 financial crisis. A state fund would not only expand award coverage for the state’s CDFIs -- it would also provide match funding for federal CDFI Fund award applications. The... Read more
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has terminated its order to cease and desist on L.A.-based Broadway Financial Corporation, parent company of Broadway Federal Bank, F.S.B. Broadway has operated under the order since 2010. The OCC had lifted its own consent order from the bank in November 2015. CEO Wayne Bradshaw commented, “This decision by the FRB, along with the OCC’s decision in November, officially [recognizes] that Broadway has re-established its position as a safe and sound financial institution. In addition, these decisions tacitly acknowledge the success... Read more
The President has released his FY 2017 budget, proposing a total of $245.9 MM in CDFI Fund appropriations. That would represent a $12 million increase over the fund’s FY 2016 appropriations. Significantly, the budget proposes $19 million in funding for the Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) Program, marking the first time in many years the president’s budget has not proposed eliminating the program. The budget also includes a new program aimed at promoting responsible small dollar loan products. The new... Read more
Sunrise Banks has received the Best Cause Advocacy/Awareness award in the 2015 PR Daily Corporate Social Responsibility awards. The award is in recognition of a brand journalism campaign that Sunrise created to promote the work of local nonprofit, Newgate School. Newgate is a nonprofit, tuition-free automotive technical school located in the Twin Cities. They offer autobody and auto mechanics training for unemployed or under-employed adults. Sunrise worked with Twelve-Plus media to create a short video highlighting Newgate’s mission and history that was launched alongside... Read more
David Reiling, social entrepreneur and CEO of St. Paul based Sunrise Banks was recently named as one of the Trust Across America-Trust Around the World Top Thought Leaders for 2016. The awards program celebrates professionals who are transforming the way organizations do business. This is Reiling’s third consecutive year being named to the list. “[This year's honorees] inspire organizations to look more closely at their higher purpose...to create greater value for, and trust from all of their stakeholders, and understand trust is a ‘hard currency’ with real returns,” said... Read more
Boston, Mass.-based OneUnited Bank and the African American Film Critics Association are hosting their second annual “Money On My Mind: The Film & TV Industry” event. The event is part of an effort to reach out to Hollywood’s’ black community and encourage long-term wealth building by examining the multitude of opportunities behind the camera and behind the scenes in the entertainment industry. The event will feature discussions by some of Hollywood’s most powerful black TV and Film players. “OneUnited Bank is honored to partner with AAFCA on this annual event to... Read more
Seaway Bank & Trust has filed a lawsuit against Urban Partnership Bank alleging wrongdoing over a mortgage portfolio of more than 1,500 home mortgages with a face value of $154 million. The dispute started late last year when Urban Partnership sold more than 1,500 mortgages originated by its predecessor, ShoreBank, to Seaway. The deal unraveled and Seaway now claims Urban Partnership won’t return a security deposit of several million dollars. At issue was how quickly Urban Partnership wanted Seaway to assume the loans. Seaway said that its bid specified a 120-day... Read more
The CDFI Fund is tentatively planning to release the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) and applications for the FY 2016 CDFI Program FA and TA and Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program) in mid- to late February 2016. The CDFI Fund also announced it will conduct application workshops across the country to help applicants better understand the programs and the application process. Workshops are tentatively scheduled for Feb. 24, 2016 in Minneapolis, Minn. at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis; March 8, 2016 in Washington, D.C. at the CDFI Fund’s headquarters; and March... Read more