SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wells Fargo announced that it is seeking to invest up to $50 million in African American Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs). These investments are part of Wells Fargo’s commitment to supporting economic growth in African American communities where MDIs, often community based banks, provide mortgage credit, small business lending, and other banking services. Wells Fargo commends Congresswoman Joyce Beatty and Congressman Gregory Meeks for recently sponsoring legislation to enhance MDIs and these investments in African American MDIs will support the spirit of that legislation.
“Our industry is stronger when we work together, shepherding resources for underserved individuals and small businesses to create economic opportunities that will strengthen the long-term success of communities,” commented Jonathan Weiss, CEO of Corporate & Investment Banking and Interim CEO of Wealth & Investment Management at Wells Fargo. “MDIs are a key part of the lending ecosystem for underserved communities, playing an important role in neighborhood revitalization, and we look forward to helping African American MDIs grow, serve their communities, and expand their sphere of influence by providing capital, connections and expertise.”
MDIs play an important role in providing banking services to minority and low and moderate income (LMI) communities. Compared with other financial institutions, MDIs tend to serve communities in which a higher share of the population lives in LMI census tracts and in which higher shares of residents are minorities.
This investment complements Wells Fargo's Diverse Community Capital (DCC) program, a five-year, $175 million program to empower diverse small business owners with greater access to capital and technical assistance so they can grow and sustain local jobs. The DCC program is a collaboration with Opportunity Finance Network and CDFIs (Community Development Financial Institutions) across the country. To date, the CDFIs in the program have made 124,000 loans, delivered 322,000 hours of technical assistance, and benefited 49,000 small business owners who collectively sustain more than 183,000 jobs in rural and urban markets nationwide.
About Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through 7,400 locations, more than 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 32 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 260,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 29 on Fortune’s 2019 rankings of America’s largest corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.
