In the News

April 6, 2026, Traders Union News, Senate Banking Democrats Move To Lock In CFPB Funding Amid U.S. Consumer Protection Fight The bill has support from the National Consumer Law Center, the Consumer Federation of America, Americans for Financial Reform, Protect Borrowers, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and the Center for Responsible Lending. Supporters say the

May 31, 2026, Fintech Business Weekly, ICBA Asks OCC To Rescind Coinbase’s Conditional Charter Approval The ICBA and the Bank Policy Institute, which represents the country’s largest banks, have filed comment letters opposing many of the national trust bank charter applications filed by crypto- and stablecoin-related firms. The National Community Reinvestment Coalition and Fair Finance Watch, both

May 29, 2026, The Good Men Project, GOP Gerrymandering Is Erasing the South’s Black Voters These policies functioned for decades to keep Black communities underserved, underinvested, and underdeveloped. They are the foundation of the racial wealth gap that persists today. According to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, in 2022 the median white household held $284,310 — more than

May 31, 2026, AFRO News, How Ownership Helped Black-Owned U Street Businesses Survive Gentrification Washington, D.C., once dubbed “Chocolate City” for its majority Black population in 1957, has now become one of the most gentrified cities in recent years, according to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Today, about 43 percent of the city’s population identifies

May 22, 2026, Hoodline, Santa Rosa’s Poppy Bank Goes On Statewide Branch Binge Acheckzai says Poppy’s branch push follows loan demand and aims to build density in existing territories, a point he discussed with The Press Democrat. The move also lines up with a broader revival in branch openings. The National Community Reinvestment Coalition reports the U.S. branch

May 22, 2026, Brookings, How States Can Incentivize Local Investing To Find New Capital For Businesses And Housing The U.S. began to witness considerable consolidation (i.e., mergers) of banking institutions and the rise of major regional banking networks in the 1980s, as deregulation permitted financial institutions to operate across state lines and expand their financial services.1 This consolidation reduced the

May 19, 2026, The New Journal And Guide, Atlantic Union Bank Launches Small Businesses Partnership Grant Initiative The program’s CDFI partners include Community Investment Collaborative (Virginia), Baltimore Community Lending (Maryland), the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (Washington, D.C.), and Carolina Small Business Development Fund (North Carolina). Each organization will receive $625,000 over five years to expand

May 15, 2026, CounterPunch, GOP Gerrymandering Is Erasing The South’s Black Votes Black people are twice as likely as whites to face food insecurity and more likely to live in “food deserts.” This reality is inextricably tied to the continuing influence of slavery and Jim Crow. This includes: “redlining,” whereby mortgages and insurance were denied to people

May 14, 2026, GuruFocus News, Stellantis (STLA) Receives FDIC Approval to Establish Stellantis Bank USA On May 14, 2026, Stellantis has gained approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to create Stellantis Bank USA, a Utah-chartered industrial bank. This move aims to reduce the company’s reliance on external lenders by providing auto financing through retail

May 12, 2026, WCINews, Williamsport-Area Book Drive To Support Financial Literacy Facilitating opportunities to enhance financial literacy is an important element of First Financial’s community development strategy. First Financial has been conducting local book drives since 2022, and last year’s drive brought in 5,726 books from throughout First Financial’s footprint. First Financial also provides free,

May 12, 2026, Ballard Spahr, CFPB Surprisingly Appeals Judge Davila’s Funding Decision to the Ninth Circuit As previously discussed in our blog, Judge Davila ruled that Acting Director Russell Vought acted unlawfully when he concluded that the CFPB could no longer request transfers from the Federal Reserve because the Federal Reserve System allegedly lacked “combined

MSN, May 11, 2026, Bank Of America Closes More Branches Bank branches weren’t always in decline. At one point, there were over 86,000 branches across the U.S. Now there are only 69,167 branches, according to the FDIC.     Although the number of bank branch closures have slowed since they hit a record decline during Covid, there

May 8, 2026, VitalLaw, LOANS—Consumer, Civil Rights Groups Urge Congress To Oppose 100%+ APR Bank Loans The signatories include national consumer and civil rights groups such as Americans for Financial Reform, the Center for Responsible Lending, the Consumer Federation of America, Public Citizen, and the National Consumer Law Center, along with state and local organizations

May 1, 2026, The Crescent News, Book Drive In Paulding To Support Financial Literacy “First Financial and the First Financial Foundation are making significant progress in multiple areas on the $2.4 billion, five-year community benefits agreement (CBA) with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition that began in 2024.”

May 2, 2026, The Washington Post, You Could Be Losing Thousands Every Time You Change Jobs The Employee Benefit Research Institute estimated that in 2015 alone, $92.4 billion was lost because of cash-outs. The situation represents “a serious problem that affects the potential of 401(k) plans to produce adequate income replacement in retirement,” according to EBRI. While