Cadence Bank and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) have developed a five-year community benefits plan to help serve underserved communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, people of color and small businesses.
The $20.7 billion community benefits plan includes provisions for mortgage lending, small business lending, community development lending and investments, philanthropy and service hours in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas.
“Founded on the principle that neighbors should help neighbors, our company believes it is only as strong as the communities it serves. This $20.7 billion plan will strengthen our efforts to improve the places we live and work,” said Dan Rollins, chairman and CEO of Cadence Bank.
The plan follows the merger of BancorpSouth Bank and Cadence Bancorporation, which created a regional banking franchise with approximately $50 billion in assets and more than 400 branch locations in its nine-state footprint, as of year-end 2021.
The plan includes:
- $11.8 billion in residential purchase-money mortgage loans to low- and moderate-income borrowers, low- and moderate-income areas, people of color and majority-minority census tracts.
- $6.5 billion in small business lending to businesses located in low- and moderate-income census tracts and/or businesses with less than $1 million in gross annual revenue
- $2.4 billion in community development lending and investments, supporting activities intended to increase the availability of affordable housing, services, social impact and economic opportunity for low- and moderate-income individuals or help to stabilize and improve conditions in distressed communities.
The bank’s Corporate Community Advisory Council, comprised of local executives, community leaders, representatives of nonprofits and community stakeholders, will collaborate with the bank to offer and develop innovative loan products, investments and services in order to implement the plan.
