A recent article in American Banker describes the why and how of LISC’s Black Economic Development Fund - a means to direct private capital to Black banks, CDFIs and other minority businesses. The $50 million from Netflix and Costco seeding the fund, with more in the pipeline, is a signal of a widespread “social-consciousness awakening that [the wealth gap] is a problem and its sources are systemic racism,” explains George Ashton, LISC EVP and the fund’s manager, in the story.
The excerpt below was originally published:
Can multimillion-dollar pledge to Black banks help close wealth gap? (Story is behind a paywall)
By Laura Alix, American Banker
A New York community development financial institution has raised $50 million for a fund aimed at supporting Black-owned banks and steering more capital into minority communities.
The Local Initiatives Support Corp. said it plans to make deposits in Black-owned banks and provide financing to minority businesses later this year with the money raised in its Black Economic Development Fund. The big-box chain Costco recently committed $25 million to the fund, following a $25 million pledge by Netflix that seeded the initiative. LISC said it plans to close its first $100 million this fall.
LISC launched the fund this summer as a way for private companies to help close the racial wealth gap. The CDFI said it already has identified $30 million of potential deposits it could make at specific Black-run banks or loans it could directly extend to certain businesses and projects.
George Ashton, its managing director of strategic investments, said the funds deposited at Black-owned banks will have direct and indirect impacts on the communities they serve. Not only will the money allow those banks to make more loans within their neighborhoods, but it will also enable them to offer financial education and other resources more widely, he said.
“Those banks are often key players in the community,” he said. “Our goal is to infuse capital into the banks with deposits but also participate with them directly in transactions that benefit the community.”
Widespread protests after the death of George Floyd and the pandemic’s outsize effect on minorities have motivated private-sector companies to act. Bank of America, PNC Financial Services Group, U.S. Bancorp and Huntington Bancshares have made multipronged, large-dollar commitments to address racial inequities.
CDFIs and minority financial institutions will play a key role in connecting those big-dollar pledges with the people, businesses and community development projects that need them the most.
Increasing access to mainstream financial services is critical to closing the wealth gap, many experts say. Forty-seven percent of U.S. households are unbanked or underbanked, compared with 20% of white ones, according to a McKinsey & Co. study that drew on data collected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in 2017. Increased access to basic banking services could save Black Americans up to $40,000 in check-cashing and other fees over the course of their lives.