Recent News
David Reiling, Sunrise Banks CEO and CDBA Director, won the Good Leader Award at Minnesota Business Magazine's Community Impact Awards. The awards are intended to recognize leaders and businesses that take tangible, life-changing actions that have a real impact on the people touched by their efforts. The magazine recognized Mr. Reiling as a social entrepreneur with 25 years of innovation experience in community development finance. They praised his advocacy on behalf of underserved consumers and Sunrise Banks' work with Hmong and Somali immigrant communities. Sunrise Banks... Read more
The Center for Financial Services Innovation provides a set of aspirational guidelines for small-dollar credit products. The report emphasizes responsible underwriting as a key component of a high-quality small-dollar credit product. It also focuses on the importance of proper loan structure and pricing to maintaining the borrower's ability to repay. It defines the ideal small-dollar credit product as one which is made with a high confidence in the borrower’s ability to repay, is structured to support repayment, aligns profitability for the provider with success for the borrower, gives the... Read more
Kansas City's KC Storefront Initiative aims to make loans to small businesses—particularly those run by women and minorities—that haven't been able to get banks to extend credit to them. Since the initiative's launch in mid-2012, more than 140 entrepreneurs have received a total of $1.2 million in financing. The loans are made by Justine Petersen, a St. Louis-based microlender that Kansas City officials recruited to run the program. But the city has played an active role in facilitating the loans. Kansas City has donated office space to Justine Petersen and contributed $110,000 to the... Read more
The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, a Boston-based nonprofit lender, is making waves with its vocal advocacy in favor of reviving a more sustainable version of the subprime mortgage market. The organization's mission is to expand homeownership with mortgages to lower-income borrowers on terms that are both profitable and sustainable. It is half lender, half community organization. Applicants are subject to careful screening and, upon approval, are required to participate in the organization's advocacy efforts. The lender also replaces the typical mortgage insurance with a... Read more
A new study of FDIC statistics finds that the number of small banks and their share of US banking assets declined substantially since 2000 while the five largest US banks expanded. Small banks’ share of domestic deposits fell from 40 percent to 23 percent since early 2000 while their share of US banking assets declined from 36 to 19 percent. The five largest banks now hold 44 percent of US banking assets and 40 percent of domestic deposits—up from 23 percent and 19 percent, respectively, in early 2000. Some of the decline among small banks is organic, as market forces encourage... Read more
This week, February 24-March 1, is America Saves Week. Programming sponsored by the OCC, the Consumer Federation of America and the American Savings Education Council will encourage individuals and families to prepare for the future by saving. "I’m proud of the role that national banks and federal savings associations play in helping Americans build the savings they need to improve their lives" said OCC Comptroller Thomas Curry. Curry encouraged banks to continue their support for America Saves Week by partnering with local organizations to encourage savings through activities such as... Read more
Minnesota legislators plan to introduce a bill that will allow companies in the state to form B-corporations, entities that pursue social missions as well as generate profits. One early advocate is David Reiling, CEO of Sunrise Banks and a CDBA director. About 20 states currently allow the charters and Reiling wants to see Minnesota join that group. "Do well and do good," Reiling said of Sunrise Bank's philosophy. "We're living proof that those concepts are not mutually exclusive." Reiling points to the bank's joint venture with Lutheran Social Services, a program that... Read more
Newly released transcripts reveal Fed officials underestimated the severity of economic conditions during the financial crisis. Officials repeatedly fretted about overstimulating the economy, only to realize time and again that they needed to redouble efforts to contain the collapse. Ben Bernanke was clearsighted in warning of the risk of a severe recession, but struggled to persuade his colleagues. Janet Yellen, then president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, was even more alarmed. She and Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, were the most forceful... Read more
Arkadelphia, Ark.-based Southern Bancorp Community Partners has announced a new product that encourages local low-income non-traditional students to invest in college education. Their College Completion Matched Savings Program matches $3 for every $1 saved by the program participant. Once they reach their savings goals and complete financial education classes, participants can use the savings to pay for tuition, books or other school fees. “If you’re willing to work hard to achieve your education goal, Southern Bancorp Community Partners is willing to help you reach it,”... Read more
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has compiled a series of articles and essays highlighting the stabilization strategies of nonprofits across the country. The essays emerged from experiences in the Neighborhood Stabilization Innovations Initiative, a project which supported emerging strategies for neighborhood stabilization after the foreclosure crisis. In this review, findings from that initiative are presented on topics including mitigating foreclosure, new models of housing counseling, public-sector entrepreneurialism and fair housing. "The 10 projects funded under the... Read more
CDBA member Virginia Community Capital is currently seeking a loan operations specialist to support their Finance/Operations Team. The Loan Operations Specialist will be responsible all for a variety of duties related to servicing the loan portfolio from the point of loan booking to the payoff and release of the loan. This position works closely with the lending team, recording data on new loans and renewals and is responsible for reconciling all loans related to general ledger accounts. The operations specialist is expected to manage loan file documentation and to conduct FLHB and HMDA... Read more
Over a weeklong stretch last month, all six institutions offering bank payday loans discontinued the product due to pressure from federal banking regulators. The coming months will test how hard those banks are willing to fight for low income borrowers. Whatever banks offer will likely be less profitable than deposit advance. Possible replacement products like secured credit cards may fill some of the void, but many customers who used deposit advances won't qualify for secured loans. Some banks are partnering with nonbanks that already have expertise in small-dollar lending, such as LendUp... Read more
Green economy organization Green America has given One PacificCoast Bank, Albina Community Bank and Southern Bancorp A+ grades for their commitment to sustainability and clean energy. Green America praised these banks for avoiding financing coal power plants and mining operations. The organization noted that One PacificCoast, Albina and Southern all have demonstrated investment in sectors that invest in communities and promote sustainability. Green America released the rankings as part of their Take Charge of Your Card campaign, which promotes banks that... Read more
Lisa Sevron, a professor at the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy at the New School, describes the experiences of payday borrower Azlinah Tambu, a twenty-two-year-old single mother: Ms. Tambu's car had broken down, and she needed it to drop her daughter off at day care and get to work. Tambu had no savings or credit card; no family or friends who could help. So she took out five payday loans from five different lenders knowing she would not be able to pay them back on time. When the lenders tried to withdraw the money she owed from her checking account,... Read more
Shoddy paperwork, erroneous fees and wrongful evictions are cropping up among the servicers that collect mortgage payments. Servicing companies like Nationstar and Ocwen Financial now have 17 percent of the mortgage servicing market, up from 3 percent in 2010. The servicing companies are unfettered by many regulations which apply to banks. Because of those regulations, banks are eager to hand off some of their more challenging loans. Federal and state regulators worry that the rapid growth could create new setbacks like stalled modifications for millions of Americans. Analysts say the... Read more
Costs associated with the Target security breach have topped $200 million for financial institutions, according to data collected by the Consumer Bankers Association and the Credit Union National Association. The tally by the industry trade groups is the most comprehensive so far in identifying the breach's impact on banks and others. With the credit card data of an estimated 40 million shoppers exposed in the attack, banks have gone on a massive spree of new-card issuance: more than 17 million new credit cards have been sent out to customers. Replacing credit cards costs an average of $10... Read more
Brian Argrett, President and CEO of City First Bank of DC, has been named a recipient of the Washington Business Journal’s 2014 Minority Business Leader Award. The award recognizes the top 25 minority business leaders in the Washington, D.C. area, honoring their entrepreneurial drive, creativity and success. Mr. Argrett, also CDBA Vice-Chair, was recognized for bringing financial services to the underserved and for his expertise growing companies in under-resourced and minority communities. Under his leadership, City First Bank has grown to over $200 million in assets and... Read more
On March 7, 2014, at 1:00 PM EST Promontory Financial Group will host a conference call to answer frequently asked questions about the Promontory Empowerment Awards. Topics covered in the call will include award eligibility, application requirements, selection criteria and prizes. All interested in attending are advised to RSVP to empowerment@promontory.com for dial-in information and to submit questions for consideration during the call. Questions should be submitted by 5:00 PM EST on March 5. Promontory established the... Read more
Virginia Community Capital President/CEO and CDBA Chairwoman Jane Henderson has been named one of three new board members by the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship. Based in Lincoln, Nebraska, the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship works in partnership with communities in the United States and Canada to provide customized research-based, asset-focused economic development strategies that emphasize entrepreneurship. Current board chair Thomas S. Lyons said of the transition, “We are excited about the addition of these three members who bring deep experience with... Read more
OneUnited Bank has introduced a new credit card aimed at consumers who are trying to repair bad credit. The credit card, billed as the “comeback card” will initially be marketed in the bank’s three primary locations -- Boston, Los Angeles, and Miami -- said Teri Williams, the bank’s president. As customers establish a history of on-time payments, they can rebuild their credit, allowing them to qualify for traditional cards and other loans. “These are people who have hit a bump in the road,” Williams said. “We can relate, whether personally or as an institution, when you... Read more