Nonprofit Quarterly, November 7, 2025, CDFI Movement Responds to Latest Trump Threat
One further effect may be more subtle: A more constrained federal policy environment could make CDFIs more dependent on banking allies whose values may not always be fully aligned with their values. According to Next City, at the OFN conference held in Washington, DC, in October, for example, OFN’s CEO Harold Pettigrew announced a $45 million “strategic partnership” with Capital One.
This is the same Capital One that entered into a $425 million settlement agreement for underpaying interest to depositors earlier this year and which had been previously called out by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition for operating with a business model based on “luring LMI [low-to-moderate income] people into debt,” with an estimated half of its profits coming from fees and interest. Because of its past bad behavior, advocates had opposed Capital One’s merger with Discover earlier this year. Despite this, the merger happened.
