News
American Banker has released their 2016 list of best banks to work for. CDBA Members Guaranty Bank and Trust, FNBC Bank, Community Bank and Bankplus all made the list.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta are holding a one-day forum on CDFI banking in the Southeast region, in partnership with CDBA, the National Bankers Association and the National Community Investment Fund. Topics will include economic and demographic trends affecting the Southeast, the financial performance of CDFI banks and strategic partnership opportunities. Distinguished speakers will include Atlanta Fed EVP, Bank Supervision and Regulation Michael Johnson, CDFI Fund Director Annie Donovan and FDIC Senior Deputy Director Sylvia Plunkett. The event will be free. Registration information will be circulated in early July.
Over the last few years a small CDFI bank in Kansas, CBW Bank, has become a secret weapon for fintech companies. These tech innovators rely on both CBW’s technology and status as a state-chartered bank to build their own businesses. The bank’s tech roots started when Suresh Ramamurthi, an ex-Google engineer, and his wife Suchitra Padmanabhan, a former Wall Street banker, purchased CBW Bank. Frustrated with the bank’s cumbersome back office software, Ramamuthi decided to build the tech tools he needed himself. After several years, he had built a platform layered on top of the bank’s older architecture that unglues customer bank accounts from segmented pay pipes. That makes activity within the account more transparent and enables CBW to gather real-time information on transactions.
Guaranty Bank & Trust Company, based in Belzoni, Mississippi, has opened a new branch location in Grenada. The bank also announced it will add three Granada locals as relationship bankers on the Grenada staff. "Our commitment to Grenada is certainly affirmed with the conversion of a Loan Production Office to a full-service branch along with completing construction of a local office," said President and Chief Executive Officer Hue Townsend. "Our Grenada personnel are comprised of professionals who are long-time investors of the Grenada community. I am confident that our customers will be well-served by their experience."
City First Bank of D.C. has released its 2015 annual report, documenting a year of impact in underserved areas of the nation’s capital. In 2015, City First made $27 million in new loans and deployed $26 million in New Markets Tax Credit equity. The Atlas Performing Arts Center, now celebrating its 10th anniversary, was one organization that benefited from City First’s support. When Jane Lang set out to raise the $24 million it would take to repair the dilapidated theater, most traditional banks warned her against investing in such a distressed neighborhood. “City First came in at an early point, but at a prudent point, where it looked like things were going to come together to create a vibrant community. They were the critical element at a critical moment,” Lang says. Today, that neighborhood is among the city’s cultural hotspots.
Michel Poignant thinks the industry is approaching mobile wallets the wrong way. The PayToo CEO believes companies should focus their efforts on adding services that consumers value rather than putting technology such as NFC at the center of mobile wallets. CDBA member City National Bank of New Jersey is now working with PayToo to expand its reach. As part of this strategic alliance, PayToo markets the bank's products and services nationally under the PayToo brand. Customers can perform all of their banking on the PayToo wallet, including depositing their paycheck, topping-up cell phone time with 300 carriers, paying bills and transferring money person to person.
Peoples Bank partnered with SBA in 1989 to help Mississippian’s start, build and grow businesses. Twenty-seven years later, 642 small businesses have been able to grow and develop because of this partnership. Peoples Bank continues to receive outstanding awards for their commitment and dedication to helping grow local small businesses. SBA executives presented the award recently at the Mississippi event held in Jackson. Janita Stewart, SBA District Director, commented, “Congratulations again…Peoples Bank really makes a difference in entrepreneurial development and contributes to the growth of small businesses in our state.”
OneUnited Bank has announced a partnership with BMe Community, a national network of black male leaders dedicated to building prosperous communities. OneUnited will become BMe Community’s preferred bank with a $1 million initial deposit. Both organizations place a strong emphasis on the importance of strengthening the black community through initiatives that focus on economics, community development, entrepreneurship and technology. “It’s a matter of integrity,” said Trabian Shorters, CEO of BMe Community. “If a foundation, corporation or association says they want to help the black community, then we’ll know it’s true if they bank black too.”
Chicago’s Urban Partnership Bank has launched a campaign to raise at least $15 million in new equity. The bank's chairman, David Vitale, is meeting with CEOs of locally headquartered banks like Northern Trust, PrivateBancorp, Wintrust Financial and MB Financial to help the bank recapitalize. Urban Partnership is operating under an Aug. 5 consent order with state and federal bank regulators that requires it to raise capital and pursue a new business plan. Investing in Urban Partnership could appeal to local bankers because, as a CDFI, an investment in UPB will give their banks credit under the Community Reinvestment Act. Their choice: Build their own branches in parts of the city they might prefer to avoid or help prop up Urban Partnership, which already is serving many of those areas.
Sunrise Banks sponsored the third annual TEDxMinneapolis in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The event fosters the sharing of ideas between Minneapolis’ most innovative thinkers and groups. This year, with the help of EventLab, Sunrise brought the concept of “speed volunteering” to TEDx and created an interactive booth where attendees could volunteer for Fraser, Minnesota’s largest and most experienced provider of autism services. Attendees at the booth spent 5-10 minutes making sensory toys for use with the children in Fraser’s programs. "The people who took part had fun, learned a lot about Fraser’s mission and their history and got to get some stress relief," said Sunrise Banks marketing specialist Tucker Combs.