Recent News
Two years after the demise of a proposal to speed up U.S. electronic payments, a revised measure now appears likely to be approved by the banking industry. The new proposal was designed to resolve an issue that derailed the 2012 proposal: the fact that banks on the receiving end of transactions will be required to invest in the upgraded ACH network, but won't receive many direct benefits. The revised proposal would require any bank that initiates a same-day payment to pay 8.2 cents per transaction to the bank on the other end, covering the technological investments that banks on the... Read more
In a joint interview, longtime Carver Bancorp CEO Deborah Wright and new president and CEO Michael Pugh discussed the evolution of the bank's role in its communities. "[Michael] is a tremendous talent," Wright said. "We've worked together for a couple of years and, over that time, I became comfortable that he could take the organization to the next level." Pugh intends to expand the bank's customer base with new products. "[T]here is continued opportunity to have feet on the street and grow primary banking relationships," said Pugh. "The next step is a credit solution for... Read more
A working paper by the San Francisco Fed offers best practices for crafting Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance context—knowledge about the bank’s local markets, the needs of its community and the opportunities that exist within the local network of resources and organizations. The performance context is as much a self‐assessment as it is a regional assessment, not only identifying the needs in a bank’s assessment areas, but also determining which needs are within a bank’s capacity to address. The paper encourages banks to identify credit needs and opportunities for community... Read more
BankPlus is taking advantage of the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s new corporate telehealth program. The program aims to cut down unnecessary medical visits by allowing real-time, same-day virtual appointments. BankPlus has made the program available to all 725 employees at 60 of its locations. Just four weeks into operation, the program has already treated nearly 50 patients. “Historically, we have always embraced emerging technology, not only in our products and services, but internally as well," said Bill Ray, president and CEO of BankPlus. "Telehealth... Read more
In a new book, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the Urban Institute explore data collection trends in the community development field. The book, What Counts, brings together essays on data collection and use from a wide range of authors, including community development practitioners, regulators and academics. Among the recurring themes in the essays are the promise of the massive troves of data now available to the public — and the challenges of harnessing it safely and usefully. Authors describe a trend toward standardization in the collection of community... Read more
Southern Bancorp is calling foul on a recent move by the Citizens Bank of Batesville, which has hired 10 lenders and support staff away from Southern’s office in Hot Springs, Ark. Citizens CEO Phil Baldwin, who had been CEO at Southern from 2002 until 2011, denied a raid on his former employer and said the hires were instructed not to bring information with them. Nevertheless, Southern Bancorp has notified regulators of their concerns. “We believe that proprietary information may have been misappropriated,” said Southern Bancorp CEO Darrin Williams. Meanwhile, Southern... Read more
Banks are urging some of their largest customers to take their cash elsewhere or be slapped with fees, citing new regulations that make it onerous for them to hold large deposits in accounts that were previously free. The new measure requires the banks to maintain enough high-quality assets that could be converted into cash during a crisis to cover a projected flight of deposits over 30 days. Because large, uninsured deposits would be expected to leave most quickly, the rule requires that banks maintain reserves that they cannot use for profitable activities like making loans. Some bankers... Read more
International regulators are gearing up to make significant changes to capital requirements over the next few years, a shift that some are already referring to as Basel IV. The Financial Stability Board has detailed a slate of likely changes over the next three years, including raising the risk-based capital ratio, revising risk weightings and moving away from model-based assessments as part of a revamp of the capital requirements for operational, market and credit risk. The Basel Committee will likely raise the risk-based capital ratio to 10% from 8%. A key principle of the new guidelines... Read more
Chicago's Urban Partnership Bank is taking on the currency exchanges and payday lenders with new check-cashing and prepaid-card services for individuals who aren't bank customers. The services come at prices well below those of typical currency exchanges -- check cashing will be over 30 percent cheaper. The bank will charge 1.25 percent to cash Social Security checks, paychecks, tax refund payments and the like, compared to 2 percent at many currency exchanges. “We work to give people great value but make a nominal profit while doing so,” said Darryl Hendricks, the bank's... Read more
Washington-based City First Enterprises, the nonprofit holding company of City First Bank of D.C., is building an online crowdsourcing platform for investors who want to put their money to work in underserved communities. "At present, it is extremely difficult for [investors and CDFIs] to get together," said City First Enterprises president John Hamilton. "The design of this platform is to streamline and make this much easier. A CDFI can borrow money for itself or host projects as investor opportunities." Hamilton hopes the site will go live by July. The platform got a big... Read more
The U.S. Treasury Department has announced that Annie Donovan will become the new CDFI Fund director, filling the position vacated by Donna Gambrell at the end of last year. Donovan is an experienced CDFI practitioner who most recently served as CEO of CoopMetrics, a firm that provides business intelligence tools to small businesses and nonprofits. Previously, Donovan was a senior policy advisor at the White House, working to advance impact investing with the Office of Social Innovation and the Council on Environmental Quality. Donovan has also served as the chief operating officer of... Read more
The First, A National Banking Association has opened a new full-service banking center in Baton Rouge, LA. The First now has banks in 32 locations in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. “Expansion into the Baton Rouge market is a major part of our company’s strategic plan," said The First President & CEO Hoppy Cole. "We are excited about the combination of Market President Jarrett Nicholson and our team of experienced local bankers... We believe this is an excellent entry into the Baton Rouge market and look forward to expanding our business in the Baton Rouge area.”... Read more
Promontory Financial Group has announced the winners of its first annual Empowerment Awards, a new program... Read more
The CDFI Fund is issuing a call for personnel to serve as application reviewers for the FY 2015 round of the CDFI Program and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program). The CDFI Fund requires reviewers and alternates to have considerable expertise in the community and economic development finance sectors. Prior experience serving as a successful CDFI Program or NACA Program application reviewer is preferred, but is not required. The CDFI Fund is accepting applications ... Read more
New York City residents are giving rave reviews to Spring Bank. "I've been in New York more than 30 years doing business with all the banks—Chase, Citi, all of them—and they never cared about me. But my bank now, it is a lovely bank,” said Bronx poultry salesman Hamad Ali. Spring provides real estate loans for business like Mr. Ali’s as well as a payday loan alternative called Borrow and Save. "Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people in the Bronx alone need financial services that they just don't have access to in the banking environment," said Brian Blake, Spring... Read more
Minnesota's Finance & Commerce Magazine has named Sunrise Banks Vice President of Business Development Terri Banaszewsk and University Financial Corporation President Nichol Beckstrand among the top women in Minnesota finance. University Financial Corp. hired Beckstrand as its chief operating officer in 2006. When University, Park Midway, and Franklin National banks merged in 2013 to become Sunrise Banks, Beckstrand led... Read more
The CFPB has proposed new rules designed to expand foreclosure protections for mortgage borrowers, building on the mortgage servicing rules that went into effect earlier this year. Chief among the new measures would be a requirement that servicers provide additional foreclosure protections to borrowers who have previously worked through the loss mitigation process and recovered. Current rules require servicers to offer borrowers certain protections, including the right to be evaluated under CFPB requirements for foreclosure avoidance options, just once during the life of the mortgage. The... Read more
Community bankers are raising concerns about President Barack Obama’s pick for Treasury Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, investment banker Antonio Weiss. Camden Fine, president of community banking trade group ICBA has expressed “serious concerns” with the nomination. Fine said he’s worried Mr. Weiss, an experienced Wall Street deal maker, doesn’t understand the needs of small and mid-size banks. The opposition adds to mounting pressure against Weiss’ nomination. Two prominent Democrats, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), have publicly... Read more
Carver Bancorp, Inc. has announced that Deborah C. Wright will retire as CEO to be replaced by Michael Pugh. Pugh, currently the company's president and COO, joined the company as chief revenue officer in 2012 and became president and COO in 2013. Wright will continue to serve as the company's non-executive chairman of the board. She will also join the Ford Foundation’s Economic Opportunity and Assets program. "I am honored to serve as Carver's CEO and I join the board in thanking Debbie for her leadership and contributions to our organization over the past 15 years,”... Read more
Community Bank and Peoples Bank ranked in the SBA Mississippi District’s top five lenders by dollar volume of loans. In fiscal year 2014, a total of 412 SBA loans were approved for $153.3 million in the Mississippi district. Almost 56% of the loans backed were to underserved markets. “This could not have happened without the participation of our various lending partners,” said Janita R. Stewart, SBA Mississippi District Director. “Access to capital is the key element for small businesses to grow and prosper.” The SBA Mississippi District Office will... Read more