Suburban St. Louis-based Midwest BankCentre opened its first full-service, cashless bank last year in the north St. Louis metro city of Dellwood.
The 1,800-square-foot branch is inside of a formerly abandoned strip mall and includes an interactive teller machine along with three bank staff.
Executive Vice President for Community and Economic Development Wes Burns said the branch is important both as a way to help the underserved community and to test innovative products. The $2.7 billion bank has pushed back weekday lobby closing to 6 p.m. from 5 p.m.
Burns sees the branch as especially needed as there were 35 predatory payday lending businesses providing capital to consumers at upwards of 400 percent APR within a five-mile radius of the branch. More than a quarter of Dellwood’s population reportedly lives below the poverty line, more than doubling the national average of 12.6 percent.
Midwest BankCentre has established an alternative to payday lending that removes credit score as the primary consideration to access bank credit. Instead, the product relies on income verification and longevity of employment history to underwrite and extend credit. The bank has also adopted more flexible loan payment expectations that account for how often the customer receives paychecks to help with household budgeting.
Midwest BankCentre also played a major role in financing the broader renovation project for the former strip mall. The bank lent $5.75 million to local nonprofit Refuge & Restoration to transform the 90,000-square-foot vacant former strip mall into a community center, complete with an early childhood learning center, behavioral health and addiction facility and workforce and career development center.
The building also includes a multiplex with the relocated Refuge & Restoration Church, office space, co-working facility, medical school, restaurant, food pantry and commercial kitchen. The project is expected to add more than 50 jobs to the North St. Louis area.
Refuge & Restoration founders Revs. Ken and Beverly Jenkins broke ground on the project in October 2021. The mall had been vacant since a local grocery store at the site closed more than 15 years ago.
Burns said the local community has welcomed the innovative branch. Approximately 500 people, including top St. Louis County officials, other local dignitaries and the general public attended a grand opening ceremony in September. Developers intentionally utilized vendors and subcontractors in the construction process who represented the communities they serve — more than 70 percent of participation was from minority-owned contractors.
“Seeing a once blighted, vacant former grocery store that’s been vacant for 20 years nearly, seeing redevelopment and investment coming into the community has been extremely welcoming by the community stakeholders,” Burns added.
The project was part of Midwest BankCentre’s 2021 commitment to lend an additional $200 million to the communities it serves over five years. To Burns, Midwest BankCentre and R&R Marketplace are both committed to making a positive impact on the community.
“As you look at all of the businesses, the formula that the marketplace had in mind and the vision was for each of these businesses and service providers to align with a goal of providing systematic change throughout our region,” Burns added.