PNC Bank and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) announced today the creation of a four-year, $88 billion community benefits plan that will increase financial resources to low- and moderate-income (LMI) people and communities across the bank’s entire national footprint.
The plan, based on discussions between the bank, NCRC and its community-based members, is the largest commitment ever pledged by a bank to the communities where it takes deposits. Since 2016, NCRC has facilitated similar community benefits agreements with 15 bank groups worth a combined $298 billion for lending, investments and philanthropy.
The PNC plan’s goals include:
- $47 billion for home purchase mortgage loans to people and communities of color, and borrowers and neighborhoods with LMI.
- $26.5 billion for lending to small businesses in communities that are majority people of color and/or experiencing LMI.
- $14.5 billion in community development lending and investment (CDLI) that will include investments into housing tax credit programs, Opportunity Zone investments, economic empowerment and social justice initiatives, as well as loans and investments to CDFIs.
“We appreciate the leadership and commitment of PNC Bank to collaborate with us and our members to develop the largest-to-date community benefits plan,” said NCRC CEO Jesse Van Tol. “This plan is a significant commitment by one of the largest banks in the nation to increase investments, services and loans for low- and moderate-income communities and neighborhoods of color. It’s rewarding and makes me hopeful when institutions and communities can come together like this to make a meaningful commitment that’s intended to have a lasting impact on lives, families and neighborhoods.”
Under the plan, the bank also committed to increase its spending with diverse suppliers by 20%, while also increasing the number of suppliers of color the bank works with over the plan’s four-year period. PNC will also form a sixteen-member Community Advisory Council that will meet semi-annually to review and discuss PNC’s progress towards the goals and objectives of this plan, as well as emerging areas of community need during the plan period.
“For over three decades, I have been fond of saying, ‘Banks are our neighborhoods’ best hope.’ The PNC plan directly responds to that hope,” said NCRC President and Founder John Taylor. “It will provide a much-needed influx of investment into critical programs that improve affordable housing, mortgage lending, small business development and economic development projects for low- and moderate-income people and neighborhoods coast-to-coast. This plan would have been impossible without the clear and unwavering commitment of PNC CEO Bill Demchak and other executive leadership at the bank, as well as the critical role our local community members played in our discussions with the bank.”
“As a Main Street bank, we believe that our success will be proportional to the prosperity we help create for our stakeholders,” said PNC chairman, president and CEO Bill Demchak. “This plan reflects that belief and builds on our longstanding commitment to provide economic opportunity for all individuals and communities we serve, as reflected in PNC Bank’s and BBVA USA’s overall ‘Outstanding’ Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) ratings in each of our organizations’ most recent evaluations.”
“The California Reinvestment Coalition and The Greenlining Institute applaud NCRC’s leadership and staff for this plan, which we believe creates win-win opportunities for our communities and for PNC. Both CRC and Greenlining, as well as our members, are pleased to have worked with NCRC to develop this community benefits plan. If it were not for NCRC and its members, this plan would not have been possible. We look forward to PNC establishing and meeting ambitious lending and investment benchmarks that will create stability and wealth-building opportunities for California’s diverse homebuyers, renters, small businesses and communities.” Kevin Stein, Deputy Director, California Reinvestment Coalition and NCRC Board Member; Adam Briones, Director of Economic Equity, The Greenlining Institute, and Rawan Elhalaby, Senior Economic Equity Program Manager, The Greenlining Institute.
Organizations Supporting The Community Benefits Plan:
Access Plus Capital
Acts Housing
Affordable Housing Centers of Pennsylvania
African Diaspora Directorate
Alabama NAACP
ANDP
Bainbridge Group Inc.
Berks Latino Workforce Development Corp.
Birmingham Business Resource Center
Building Alabama Reinvestment
California Reinvestment Coalition
Catalyst Miami
Ceiba
Central Baptist Community Development Corporation
Centre for Homeownership & EDC
Chicanos Por La Causa
City Ministry Network
City of Toledo
Coalition for Non Profit Housing and Economic Development
Community Action Association of Alabama
Community Action Partnership of North Alabama, Inc.
Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida
Community Reinvestment Alliance of South Florida
County Corp
Fair Housing Center of Northern Alabama
Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan
FAU smartWISE Community Reinvestment Coalition of Hamilton County
Florida Alliance for Community Solutions
Friends of the African Union
Georgia Advancing Communities Together, Inc.
Greater Cincinnati Microenterpise Initiative
Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Havenwoods Neighborhood Partnership
Henderson & Company
Hill Community Development Corporation
Homes on the Hill, CDC
Housing Options & Planning Enterprises
Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition
Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council
Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council
Moorish Science Temple of America #5
My Project USA
NACEDA
National Association of American Veterans
National Housing Counseling Agency
National Housing Resource Center
National NeighborWorks Association
Neighborhood Concepts, Inc.
Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida, Inc.
NeighborWorks Collaborative of Ohio
New Jersey Citizen Action
Norris Square Community Alliance
Northwest Indiana Reinvestment Alliance
Nueva Esperanza, Inc
Ohio CDC Association
Pima County Community Land Trust
Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group
Prestamos CDFI
Rebirth Inc
Reinvestment Partners
REVA Development Corporation
Revitalize Milwaukee
S J Adams Consulting
Southern Dallas Progress Community Development Corporation
Southwest Economic Solutions
Southwest Neighborhood Housing Services
Spanish American Civic Association
St. Louis Equal Housing and Community Reinvestment Alliance
St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. dba Neighborhood Home Solutions
Texas Association of Community Development Corporations
The Greenlining Institute
United Communities Southeast Philadelphia
United South Broadway Corporation
Universal Housing Solutions CDC
Urban Economic Development Association of Wisconsin (UEDA)
Urban Land Conservancy
U SNAP BAC Non Profit Housing Corporation
Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Wacif)
We Help Communities 2 Develop Corporation.
Wealth Watchers
Welfare Reform Liaison Project, Inc.
Working In Neighborhoods
YWCA Southeast Wisconsin
About NCRC
NCRC and its grassroots member organizations create opportunities for people to build wealth. We work with community leaders, policymakers and financial institutions to champion fairness in banking, housing and business. NCRC was formed in 1990 by national, regional and local organizations to increase the flow of private capital into traditionally underserved communities. NCRC has grown into an association of more than 600 community-based organizations in 42 states that promote access to basic banking services, affordable housing, entrepreneurship, job creation and vibrant communities for America’s working families. Learn more at: www.ncrc.org
Summary Of The Community Benefits Plan Between The National Community Reinvestment Coalition And PNC Bank
PNC will lend or invest $88 billion to underserved borrowers and communities over a four-year period from 2022 through 2025.
Mortgage Lending to the Underserved
Community Benefits Commitment: $47 billion over 4 years
PNC commits to mortgage goals for people of color, borrowers with LMI, census tracts that are majority people of color, and LMI census tracts, that all represent double-digit increases from the previous combined lending of PNC and BBVA to each of these categories. To achieve this, PNC is committing to increase its participation in public down payment assistance programs, expanding and establishing new relationships with housing counseling organizations, collaborating with housing agencies and nonprofits to promote mortgage product innovation, and continuing to regularly review the terms and features of PNC’s home lending products for opportunities to expand access to homeownership. PNC will also work with regulators, elected officials, appraisal organizations, and community organizations to identify and advance solutions to appraisal gap issues, which can be a barrier for home lending in communities of color, and especially Black and Latinx communities.
Small Business Lending
Community Benefits Commitment: $26.5 billion over 4 years
PNC commits to goals for small businesses and small farms, businesses in census tracts that are majority people of color, and for businesses in LMI census tracts. PNC will increase the availability of technical assistance for LMI-, minority and women-owned small businesses, expand the activities of PNC’s Minority Business Development Group that leverages alternative lending options for LMI and minority business owners, and increase PNC’s financial support for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). PNC will also support the implementation of the small business reporting requirements of Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act in a timely and appropriate manner.
Community Development Lending and Investment (CDLI)
Community Benefits Commitment: $14.5 billion over 4 years
Included in the $14.5 billion is a commitment for $4 billion in LIHTC and NMTC investments, $1.5 billion in Opportunity Zone investments, economic empowerment, and social justice efforts, and $400 million in loans and investments for CDFIs. PNC will work with CDFIs to offer needed microloans for small businesses, increase investment capital and grants to CDFIs and other entities that provide technical assistance to startup businesses, and help impacted communities address problems created by vacant properties. PNC also plans to utilize impactful tools to advance neighborhood revitalization and the preservation of affordable housing, particularly in gentrifying areas and neighborhoods threatened by predatory investors, including a willingness to finance more complex deals such as the acquisition of property for land banks and land trusts.
Philanthropy
Community Benefits Commitment: $500 million over 4 years
PNC will provide at least $10 million in annual charitable support for Individual Development Account programs, and national and local housing counseling and small business technical assistance agencies, and at least $5 million in grants to support capacity building at community organizations. Other priorities include support for non-profit business incubators that support BIPOC entrepreneurs, women, and immigrants, maintaining or increasing the current levels of philanthropic support provided to community groups in Birmingham by PNC and BBVA in recognition of the history of Birmingham as the headquarters city of BBVA, and for the first time PNC will provide resources to community organizations seeking to assist states, such as Pennsylvania, in fully utilizing the federal SNAP benefits for workforce development projects. PNC will also work to develop a process for tracking how much of its philanthropic support is provided to non-profit community organizations that are led by people of color so that PNC can better monitor and increase its philanthropic support to these organizations.
Supplier Diversity
PNC plans to substantially increase its spending with diverse suppliers by at least 20 percent and expand the number of its diverse supplier relationships over the Plan Period. PNC will leverage its Supplier Diversity Program and, in consultation with the Advisory Council and NCRC, develop a plan to achieve these goals. PNC will report out on PNC’s relationships and spending with African American-, Latinx-, Asian-American-, women- and veteran-owned businesses.
Local Implementation
Representatives from PNC’s local Regional President, Community Development Banking (“CDB”) and Client & Community Relation Director (“CCRD”) organizations will meet with local community organizations, including local NCRC member organizations, at least semi-annually to discuss specific ways to advance the goals outlined in this Plan through initiatives that benefit the local community. These meetings will identify community development opportunities in the region and local community needs, and discuss potential ways that PNC can partner with local organizations to help meet those needs. PNC will provide NCRC the contact information for PNC’s Regional Presidents, CDB and CCRDs to help facilitate this ongoing dialogue.
Plan Accountability
PNC will form a sixteen-member Community Advisory Council that will meet semi-annually to review and discuss PNC’s progress towards the goals and objectives of this Plan, as well as emerging areas of community need during the Plan Period. PNC will provide regular reports to the Council and NCRC on its progress under this Plan, and this will include information on PNC’s home lending, small business lending, community development lending and investments and philanthropic activity on both a national and state-by-state basis. In addition, PNC will host an annual Community Leadership Symposium to discuss community development needs and how PNC can best help meet those needs. The first annual Symposium will include a session devoted to racial equity and effective ways for promoting racial equity and financial inclusion.