M&T Bank, which made unwelcome headlines earlier this year over job cuts associated with its acquisition of Bridgeport”™s People”™s United Bank, plans to provide $43 billion in loans, investments, and other financial support for low-to-moderate-income (LMI) families and neighborhoods, as well as people and communities of color.
The Buffalo bank’s five-year Community Growth Plan was developed in collaboration with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and is scheduled to roll out soon after M&T’s proposed $7.6 billion People”™s United deal is completed.
The acquisition was approved last week by the New York State Department of Financial Services and the Connecticut Department of Banking; federal regulatory approval is expected by the end of the year.
The new M&T initiative includes $23 billion in loans for home purchases, home equity and small businesses, and another $20 billion for community development initiatives and affordable housing.
The investments will cover communities the bank currently serves as well as those it would expand into through the People’s United Bank acquisition, which includes locations throughout Fairfield and Westchester counties.
“At its core, M&T is a bank with a deep commitment to serve our communities and make a difference in people’s lives,” said M&T Bank Chairman and CEO Rene Jones. “We are also committed to taking action to help address inequities that have existed for years. This plan is another step in our journey to orient ourselves around what our communities need most.”
Since March, members of M&T’s leadership team have met with the NCRC and its member organizations in the bank’s current and growth markets to identify pressing needs and consider how M&T can help increase the flow of capital to historically underserved communities.
The plan includes:
- Community development lending and investing: M&T intends to invest $11.95 billion in community development activities, including the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, New Market Tax Credit and Small Business Investment Company programs as well as provide greater access to capital for underserved communities through impact equity investments.
- Homeownership and affordable housing: The bank plans to provide $8.8 billion in home purchase lending for LMI households and communities, minority households and majority-minority communities and will expand its mortgage product offerings. It also plans to invest $7 billion in the development of multi-family, affordable and workforce housing across its expanded footprint.
- Small-business lending and counseling: M&T will increase its lending to small businesses, providing $10.5 billion targeting programs and products that benefit businesses in LMI and minority communities. M&T will also develop and implement programs that increase access to education, resources and capital for minority- and women-owned small businesses and start-up entrepreneurs.
- Financial support and services: The bank has launched a new financial education initiative that will expand the availability of both its Bank On certified checking account and secured credit card and will invest in its growing multicultural banking program to develop products and services accessible to underserved individuals and those with limited English proficiency.
- Multicultural banking: M&T anticipates designating as many as 115 branches throughout its expanded footprint as multicultural banking centers, in which bilingual branch staff can support the banking needs of the bank’s non-English-speaking customers and offer guidance in their preferred language. The bank recently launched a Spanish-language version of its website, added Chinese and Korean to the languages available on its ATMs, developed financial education materials in Spanish and plans to offer customers the ability to schedule online appointments in six different languages.
- Access to services: The bank will also identify ways to enhance customers’ access to its services in rural and urban areas where there is a limited presence of financial institutions. Depending on the community, those efforts could include mobile distribution, financial education seminars, partnerships with local community organizations or placing ATMs in those areas.
Other initiatives include providing a framework for increasing business opportunities for diverse suppliers, community development-focused philanthropy, investments supporting renewable energy and other programs totaling approximately $5 billion.
