Why become a Benefit Corporation?

In 2009, Sunrise Banks became a Certified B Corp, one of only a handful of financial institutions across the country to do so. The bank also became a legal Minnesota benefit corporation in 2015, shortly after the state made that designation available. [Continue]

First Business Bank adds to its board

Tim Keane and W. Kent Lorenz joined the board of First Business Bank, Milwaukee. They previously served on the board of First Business Bank-Milwaukee, which dissolved June 1 when its holding company, First Business Financial Services, Inc., merged its three bank charters into one. [Continue]

SoFi application for deposit insurance draws scrutiny

Rep. Maxine Waters, ranking minority member of the House Financial Services Committee, has written FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg, requesting his agency conduct a public hearing to consider SoFi’s application for deposit insurance on the industrial bank it is chartering in Utah.

SoFi is Social Finance, the six-year-old company that has made a name for itself in the online lending space focusing on student debt. More recently it has begun offering mortgages and personal loans. In June, SoFi submitted the application with the FDIC; Rep. Waters, a Democrat from California, sent her letter to Gruenberg on Aug. 25. [Continue]

IBMC and Iowa banks honored for home lending

The Iowa Finance Authority has recognized top lenders from throughout the state for their efforts in advancing affordable homeownership through IFA’s programs in 2016, and Iowa Bankers Mortgage Corporation (IBMC) was named the top lender. [Continue]

New KleinBank product offers convenience, security

KleinBank of Chaska, Minn., is one of the first community banks in Minnesota to offer a new mobile service to debit card users that helps defend against fraud and better manage spending. KleinBank’s new CardControl mobile app enables customers to turn their debit cards on or off, set spending limits, approve where and how the card can be used, and receive real time notifications. [Continue]

Innovative and Intentional: Entrepreneurship steers socially-conscious Sunrise Banks toward new opportunities

When the FDIC launched its small-dollar loan pilot in 2008, one of its assumptions was that banks would be willing to forgo short-term profitability to pursue new banking relationships. Twenty-eight banks participated in the pilot. St. Paul, Minn.-based Sunrise Banks — a Community Development Financial Institution since 2001 with a long history of working with underrepresented communities — was not among the participants. When the FDIC pilot was completed two years later, regulators were no closer to solving how banks might profit from offering affordable small-dollar loans than before. Sunrise Banks, by contrast, was nearing the ability to ink a deal with a California startup that promised to revolutionize small-dollar lending by utilizing payroll services. [Continue]

Sunrise takes purposeful approach to positioning for the future

You can see Sunrise Banks’ newly-opened headquarters above the trees as you approach the I-94/MN 280 interchange near where Minneapolis and St. Paul rub shoulders. Unlike a couple of its offices, the nearly 60,000-square-foot building isn’t on University Avenue but situated a few blocks south — a five minute walk to the door if you ride the Light Rail Transit Green Line to the Westgate Station. [Continue]

The Super Conference formula: Culture plus strategy equals success

The “Best Banks in America Super Conference” hosted by The Emmerich Group on Sept. 11-13 in Minneapolis did not follow the conventional industry meeting script. There were no vendor pitches, no exhibit hall, no breakout sessions that sent groups of bankers into separate rooms. Instead, energetic music opened each session; people clapped along like they do during a time-out at an NBA game. [Continue]

Community bank tech leader Steen named IBA’s Leach Award winner

Bob Steen, chairman and CEO of Bridge Community Bank, Mechanicsville, Iowa, has been selected by the Iowa Bankers Association to receive the James A. Leach Leadership Award, the highest honor bestowed by the IBA. Steen received the award at the IBA convention on Sept. 19 in Des Moines. [Continue]