As bank CEOs serving side by side in local markets, we strive to create wealth, share risk and meet the financial needs of the entire community. We understand that our organizations exist to serve customers and we grow when access to the financial pie expands to include everyone. When groups and neighborhoods do not have access to the financial system it affects all of us. Last fall, our teams began a dialogue through a series of conference calls. The goal: to spur economic activity in communities where access to the financial system has historically been limited. Both of our banks —... Read more

A white loan applicant and Black loan applicant each walked into a D.C.-area bank. But there's little humor to their outcomes — what one walked out with was far different from the other, per a study last year done at the height of the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program. It was in early in the second round of PPP funding, which started April 27, 2020. Both applicants were seeking information on the crucial forgivable loans that were keeping so many small businesses alive through the pandemic. Yet, the Black applicant was told by a local bank representative that no... Read more

Central Bank of Kansas City (CBKC) has supported small businesses and individuals for over 70 years. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the locally owned bank has supported its community by administering Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, feeding senior citizens, supporting local classrooms and sharing financial education resources. Since 1998, CBKC has been proud to be a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). The CDFI Fund is a U.S. Treasury initiative to increase economic opportunity and promote community development investments for underserved populations and in... Read more

Through the CARES Act, Congress ordered the Small Business Administration and the Treasury Department to issue guidance to lenders to ensure that the loan program "prioritizes small business concerns and entities in underserved and rural markets." Yet a Reveal analysis of more than 5 million PPP loans found widespread racial disparities in how those loans were distributed. In the vast majority of metro areas with a population of 1 million or more, the rate of lending to majority-white neighborhoods was higher than the rates for any neighborhoods with Latino, Black or Asian majorities.

The Federal Reserve will conduct a national survey of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) from March 22-April 23. Participating CDFIs will be asked questions about their capitalization, capacity and the impact of COVID-19 on their organizations, clients and communities. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Federal Reserve Banks and the CDFI Fund intend to use the survey data to inform research and policymaking. The survey data will also provide important benchmark information on how CDFIs are faring in the COVID-19 crisis and how they are serving low-income and minority... Read more

Citigroup Inc. said it will invest in digital mortgage offerings as part of its pledge to improve homeownership rates among communities of color. The push to digital comes as Citigroup said the rate of applications and originations it processed for Black and Hispanic consumers dropped last year, even as it increased for Asian homeowners. In response, the firm is also still planning to expand its community lending team and its network of correspondent lenders, it said. Citigroup has pledged $100 million to support minority deposit institutions in the U.S., which have seen their numbers... Read more

For the third year running, Forbes has partnered with market research firm Statista to produce our list of the World's Best Banks. Instead of gauging the balance sheets and P&L statements, as Forbes does for its ranking of the 100 largest publicly-traded U.S. banks published annually, Statista surveyed more than 43,000 customers around the globe for their opinions on their current and former banking relationships. Banks were rated on general satisfaction and key attributes like trust, fees, digital services and financial advice. BankPlus is ranked 24th in the United States. 

Sunrise Banks' CEO David Reiling, already leading what aspires to be "The World's Most Socially Responsible Bank," is pursuing that vision on a larger platform as the new chairman of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV). Reiling was named the organization's board chairman as Sunrise Banks hosted the 13th-annual meeting of the GABV. The alliance of 66 international banks and financial cooperatives works to build sustainable, economic, social and environmental development. The meeting took place as a virtual event over two days in March.

Congress created the Paycheck Protection Program in March 2020 as an emergency stopgap for what lawmakers expected to be a few months of sharp economic disruption. But as the pandemic raged on, the program — which made its first loans one year ago this past week — has turned into the largest small-business support program in American history, sending $734 billion in forgivable loans to struggling companies. The program helped nearly seven million businesses retain workers. But it has also been plagued by complex, changing rules at every stage of its existence. And one year in, it has... Read more