Beneficial State Bank Closes on $218M in Treasury Funding to Small Business, Consumers in Marginalized Communities

Beneficial State Bank closed on an equity investment of $218 million from the U.S. Treasury’s Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP) Thursday (June 9), which will support expanded lending to smaller businesses and low- to moderate-income customers.

The ECIP, announced by Vice President Kamala Harris and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, is investing $8.7 billion in various community banks, based on their track records of lending to underserved communities.

Beneficial State Bank said the new investment will go toward building capacity to serve marginalized communities. The bank wants to use it to add more products to help out with things like “community outreach, minority-owned small business lending, financing of affordable housing projects, nonprofit organization lending, consumer lending to those typically lacking access to credit” and more, according to a press release.

“The economic ripple effects of COVID-19 continue, especially in communities that have long been neglected by the financial sector,” said Beneficial State Bank CEO Randell Leach. “This investment will allow us to finance even more small businesses, support nonprofits providing critical services to our communities, and help families bank on their future.

“With this funding, we have an opportunity to triple our impact in the years ahead, in pursuit of our vision of banking that helps restore our planet and extend prosperity to all.”

In other news related to helping underserved communities with banking, DreamStart Labs and free smartphone company KEIPhone are offering new digital banking services in the EMEA region to provide FinTech-enabled smartphones to unbanked women in that area.

Related: DreamStart Labs, KEIPhone Gift Smartphones to Unbanked Women

The phones, distributed by KEIPhone, will come pre-installed with the DreamSave app. Women who receive the phones will be able to view ads with content targeted for them, like mobile money services, to help entrepreneurs improve their businesses and support agricultural innovation.

There will also be ways to access pay-as-you-go solar products. The companies plan to begin their outreach with 10,000 women in rural Uganda, and will expand to other countries later on.