Recent News
The recent decision by Twin Cities-based Sunrise Banks to sell two of its former branch buildings to local nonprofits illustrates the commitment of the company and its CEO David Reiling. Sunrise Bank announced in December 2020 that it would close two branches — one on University Avenue and Vandalia Street, the other on the city's east side — and transfer customers to its University Avenue branches on Marion Street and Como Avenue. The $1.9 billion Sunrise also has a pair of offices across the Mississippi in Minneapolis. The bank worked closely with the nonprofit Creative Enterprise Zone on... Read more
Rohit Chopra, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, raised hackles by launching a broad inquiry last week into so-called junk fees charged on run-of-the-mill financial products such as loans, mortgages and credit cards. "Service charges inflate ticket prices, resort fees hike our costs to stay in hotels, and our phone bills are often laden with mystery charges," Chopra said in a Jan. 26 press call. "These junk fees make it harder for us to choose the best product or service, since the true cost is hidden. Banking is no different." But this initiative has led bankers,... Read more
Darrin Williams, an attorney and former Arkansas state representative, wasn't interested when Southern Bancorp, Inc. approached him about a leadership position in 2013. His wife, however, reminded him of how rewarding he'd found it to facilitate a financial principles course at his church. Williams reconsidered and became CEO of Southern Bancorp, a group of three community development financial institutions (CDFI): Southern Bancorp Inc., the holding company; Southern Bancorp Bank, a $2 billion-asset community bank headquartered in Arkadelphia, Ark.; and Southern Bancorp Community Partners... Read more
Special purpose credit programs (SPCPs)—which allow banks to offer credit on favorable terms to borrowers who have suffered economic disadvantage and share common characteristics (e.g., race or income)—could provide the kind of homeownership boost to Black communities today that the New Deal provided to white people in the 20th century. We have previously shown how the effects of generations of systemic racism and economic exploitation make credit less accessible and more expensive to Black borrowers. These conditions drive the 30 percentage-point homeownership gap between Black and white... Read more
Arkadelphia, Ark.-based Southern Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Southern Bancorp Bank, agreed to acquire Marion, Ark.-based FCB Financial Services Inc. and subsidiary Premier Bank of Arkansas. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Southern Bancorp Bank has about $2 billion in assets, while Premier Bank of Arkansas has about $200 million in assets and three branches operating in Marion, West Memphis and Jonesboro, Ark., according to a news release. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter. With the deal, Southern Bancorp locations across Arkansas and... Read more
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) provided small businesses with roughly $800 billion dollars in uncollateralized, low-interest loans during the pandemic, almost all of which will be forgiven. With 93 percent of small businesses ultimately receiving one or more loans, the PPP nearly saturated its market in just two months. We estimate that the program cumulatively preserved between 2 and 3 million job-years of employment over 14 months at a cost of $170K to $257K per job-year retained. These estimates imply that only 23 to 34 percent of PPP dollars went directly to workers who would... Read more
Quontic Bank Holdings Corp., the parent company of Quontic Bank, announced today that it has appointed 10 members to a newly created Black and Hispanic Community Development Advisory Board. The advisory board will allow Quontic to formally engage experts involved in non-profit, financial literacy, and organizations supporting equitable access to affordable housing development and ownership to Black and Hispanic populations. This advisory board will work closely with Quontic's existing advisory board that advises on Quontic's geographic investment area, the greater New York City... Read more
A stretch of Frelinghuysen Avenue in Newark's South Ward will soon have a bank branch again. Industrial Bank is planning to open a location at 550 Frelinghuysen Avenue near Haynes and Meeker Avenues. The company submitted an application to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in order to proceed with the proposal, according to a branch establishment notice. Industrial Bank is based in Washington, DC. and most of its locations can be found in the district or its Maryland suburbs. The company expanded to Newark just over two years after the Treasury Department’s Office of the... Read more
The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday released a discussion paper that examines the pros and cons of a potential U.S. central bank digital currency, or CBDC. It invites comment from the public and is the first step in a discussion of whether and how a CBDC could improve the safe and effective domestic payments system. The paper does not favor any policy outcome. "We look forward to engaging with the public, elected representatives, and a broad range of stakeholders as we examine the positives and negatives of a central bank digital currency in the United States," Federal Reserve Chair... Read more
The new Virginia Small Business Resiliency Fund program launched with more than $9.7 million in grants for 12 projects throughout the state, former Gov. Ralph Northam announced Jan. 13. The fund, developed by the Department of Housing and Community Development, expands access to capital and technical assistance for small businesses adversely or disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news release. Additionally, the state is granting $1.5 million to Virginia Community Capital’s Economic Equity Fund Initiative to provide low-cost financing for 15 or more small-,... Read more
The Center for Disability-Inclusive Community Development (CDICD), managed by National Disability Institute (NDI), announced today the three winners and their partners of its Second Annual Inclusive Community Development Awards: True Link Financial and Sunrise Banks; Life Asset, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI); and Goodwill Industries of East Texas and Prosperity Bank. The purpose of the awards is to raise the visibility of financial institutions' and community-based organizations' activities that are promising and exemplary in support of low- and moderate-income (LMI... Read more
At the moment the Great Recession hit in 2008, America boasted 215 minority-owned banks. Today, only 146 so-called "minority depository institutions" remain. That decline, a trend that might be termed "The Great Winnowing," began well before the bottom fell out of the nation's housing market, and it reflects, in part, a broader trend toward consolidation within the world of finance. But Washington has also played an egregious role. Recent congressional funding boosts in these institutions are a good start. But to end the vicious cycle, Washington must be much more aggressive given the... Read more
A group of community banks is poised to fulfill a high-tech goal it set last year: to let customers buy and sell bitcoin on mobile banking apps. An estimated 300 banks, some of which unveiled their plans in June, will go live in the first or second quarter with this service with the help of the fintech NYDIG. The banks, the American Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America have made investments in the company as part of the effort. Several regulatory and security concerns have been worked out in the months since the initial announcement, and partnerships and... Read more
For their fourth annual ranking of top impact companies, Real Leaders recognizes the rise in purpose-driven businesses by expanding their Real Leaders Impact Awards list to our biggest yet with 200 winners! Included are a diverse group of companies from around the world that prove that businesses can thrive and help build a better world. Included among the winners are CDBA members Beneficial State Bank and Sunrise Banks.
US policymakers have been urged by a senior co-op figure to invest more in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) at a hearing last week. The comments, from John Holdsclaw IV, executive vice president of strategic initiatives at the National Cooperative Bank, were reported in a blog post from co-op sector body NCBA-CLUSA. The hearing was focused on how CDFIs enhance economic opportunities in underserved communities, and looked for ways the federal government can better support their work. The Senate Banking Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Community Development... Read more
This week, Wells Fargo joined the list of large banks introducing short-term credit products — and the much smaller OneUnited Bank in Boston unveiled a version of its own, intended as an alternative to payday loans. OneUnited's loan, called CashPlease, is designed to help customers of the $635 million-asset Black-owned bank manage their cash flow without the hurdles and higher costs some other lenders might impose. Instead of conducting credit checks, it looks at applicants' checking-account activity and other aspects of their relationship with the bank. Funds arrive within four hours of... Read more
Do you know what your top 3 community development priorities are for 2022? Or are you overwhelmed with competing priorities and not sure where to start? Register now for this free webinar with CRA expert Linda Ezuka to learn how to create an effective and actionable CRA strategy for your institution. Some of the topics we'll cover include planning considerations given your current CRA exam cycle, aligning CRA initiatives with your bank's core business strategy, developing your CRA strategy and goals, partnering with business units to set performance targets that are mutually beneficial,... Read more
On Tuesday, January 18, 2022 the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) is conducting an informational webinar on its new Title VI Compliance Worksheet. All fiscal year 2022 CDFI Fund award applicants are being asked to complete a Title VI Compliance Worksheet once annually with their applications. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, color, or national origin in programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance. Award applicants must be compliant with federal civil rights requirements in order to be eligible... Read more
People of color are paying more than twice the amount in banking fees than White Americans, a Bankrate survey found. When asked about fees such as ATM, overdraft and routine service charges, Black adults report shelling out an average of $12 a month for checking accounts at banks or credit unions and Hispanics are paying $14 a month, on average. White checking account holders said they are paying an average $5 per month, according to the survey, which was conducted by YouGov. For minority communities, the disparity in bank fees are indicative of the inequality they have faced for years,... Read more
While the debate over whether the U.S. should create its own central bank digital currency continues, the ultimate conclusion is already clear — like it or not, a U.S. digital dollar is coming. If you're a banker, particularly a community banker, this should scare the hell out of you. Because depending on how the digital dollar is created, it could create serious competition for federally insured deposits, drying up the primary source of funding for banks. So far, bankers have been largely absent from this debate, understandably distracted by the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic and... Read more