Recent News
OneUnited Bank has announced plans to move its national headquarters from its current office in Boston's Financial District to a new larger location in Roxbury or Dorchester. Although just 7 percent of OneUnited Bank's $356 million in deposits are held in Massachusetts, the expansion signals the bank's growing emphasis on its Boston-based online and mobile banking team. OneUnited Bank President Teri Williams said an expanded headquarters in Boston fits OneUnited’s stated mission to help underserved banking customers. “It represents the right kind of challenge for an... Read more
CDBA member City First Bank of D.C. has several open positions.
Underwriting Specialist
The underwriting specialist is responsible for reviewing loan applications from individuals and businesses, calculating credit risk and recommending a decision on the application. Duties include spreading and analyzing a customer’s financial information, assessing collateral, conducting industry comparisons, assessing the risk rating and... Read more
Virginia Community Capital has acquired benefit-corporation status, enabling the bank to write a social mission into its corporate charter. While B-Corporations are still required to pursue profitability, their management and directors must also weigh societal benefits along with shareholder value in evaluating performance. B Lab, the main advocates of the movement, also offer their own certification to corporations independent of state status. Currently, B Lab has certified just four banks: Virginia Community Capital, Sunrise Banks in St. Paul, Minn.,... Read more
OneUnited Bank has announced a new initiative, Bank for the Future, which will refocus their services on online banking. As part of the tech-oriented strategy, the bank is launching remote deposit capture, a Visa business debit card, online chat and a conversion of its online platform. The plan also calls for shrinking the bank’s branch footprint by closing two Los Angeles branches and moving to a new Boston headquarters location. The plan is designed to respond to decreased branch traffic as customers increasingly rely on internet and mobile banking solutions. “Banking is... Read more
Elkins Park, Penn.-based NOAH Bank has sued Duluth, Ga.-based NOA Bank alleging trademark infringement, false designation of origin and description and unfair competition. NOAH Bank representatives said the suit stems from NOA Bank’s recent hiring of a former NOAH officer and the opening by NOA Bank of a loan production office in New York in March 2016. NOAH alleges NOA has intentionally engaged in a scheme to confuse customers and prospects of NOAH in an effort to steal business. In particular, NOAH claims NOA targeted the Korean-American community it serves by adopting... Read more
City National Bank of New Jersey and online payments platform PayToo have announced a partnership to launch a mobile wallet designed for bank customers as well as unbanked consumers. The partnership will give users the security of FDIC insurance and the convenience of a mobile wallet. PayToo allows users to perform online banking, deposit paychecks, pay bills and transfer money person to person. The partnership also gives users access to the PayToo network of cardless ATMs and multi-service centers as well as City National Bank’s network of 55,000 surcharge free ATMs. “... Read more
NCIF’s annual CDFI banking industry report shows the performance of the CDFI banking sector is continuing to improve. As a group, CDFI banks surpass the average U.S. bank in several performance metrics, such as net interest margin — with CDFI banks at 3.93 percent compared to the median of all U.S. banks at 3.58 percent. CDFI banks’ assets, deposits and capital base also showed steady improvement. CDFI banks also performed strongly in NCIF’s social performance metrics, Development Deposit Intensity (DDI), which measures the concentration of a bank’s branches in low- and moderate-income... Read more
Low income families in Mississippi will receive much-needed home repairs thanks to a $496,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant provided by BankPlus and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas. Edward Matthews is one of 60 Holmes County, Miss. residents whose homes benefited from the AHP grant. Matthews tarred his leaky roof for eight years. “When it would rain, I'd go to the hardware store and get some tar, then in the attic, I had to guess where the leaks were in the roof. Sometimes I'd guess right," Mr. Matthews said. The situation went from bad to worse when Matthews... Read more
In a piece for the Ford Foundation’s Equals Change Blog, Sunrise Banks CEO David Reiling writes that before banks can displace predatory lenders, they will need to consider the perspective of unbanked customers: “Why do consumers go to high-interest payday lenders to get small-dollar loans— and in the process rack up hundreds or thousands of dollars in debt—rather than to banks or credit unions? The answer is that most banks and credit unions simply don't offer small dollar loans... And while traditional checking and savings products are good and well tested, they are... Read more
OneUnited Bank and HBCU Pride Nation, a marketing company focused on historically black colleges and universities, have announced a partnership aimed at using social and digital media to increase financial literacy and deposits into Black-owned banks. The partnership is focused on spreading awareness of Black-owned banks on college campuses and encouraging students to reinvest their deposits into Black owned financial institutions. The partners intend to reach students through social media channels including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The goal is to reach and... Read more
Beneficial State Bank and Foundation have officially opened nominations for the 2016 Oakland Indie Awards, which honor Oakland’s businesses and independent artists. The awards are focused on building prosperity in the local economy by celebrating the social, economic and environmental impacts of supporting local commerce. “As we face rapid change in Oakland, we know that the Oakland Indie Awards is an ever-important mainstay in our community that serves to lift up the independent businesses and artists who give back so much to our city,” said Beneficial State’s Community... Read more
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