Midwest BankCentre recently celebrated the second anniversary of the opening of the first full-service bank in Pagedale, Mo., located at 6810 Page Ave. in the Rosie Shields Manor Senior Living Facility.
Bank officials also celebrated some gains made in helping the unbanked access banking services. In October, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) reported that the percentage of African-American households without a checking or savings account had dropped to 13.3 percent in 2013. That was a significant decline from the 29 percent reported in 2011 and 31 percent in 2009, when St. Louis ranked highest in the nation for unbanked African-American households.
Overall, the number of unbanked St. Louis households fell from 9.7 percent in 2011 to 4.2 percent in 2013. The complete FDIC survey can be found at www.economicinclusion.gov.
“We are extremely pleased by the warm welcome we have received by the leaders and citizens of the Pagedale neighborhood and surrounding 24:1 Community,” said Jim Watson, MBC chairman and CEO.
The 24:1 initiative, led by Beyond Housing, groups the 24 North County municipalities that send children to Normandy public schools in an effort to consolidate resources and services.
“The Pagedale branch is adding households and growing loans and deposits faster than we expected,” Watson said, “illustrating the need for affordable banking services in this community.”
The Lemay-based MBC first agreed to open the Pagedale branch as part of an 2011 agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice over alleged redlining in its lending practices.
Under the settlement, the bank agreed to open a branch in Pagedale and invest a total of $1.45 million in predominantly black neighborhoods. The bank was referred to the Department of Justice by the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunities Council.
MBC is part a region-wide coalition of banks that have been increasing the availability of financial services to the unbanked. MBC Senior Vice President and Director of Community Development Alex Fennoy is co-chair of the St. Louis Unbanked Task Force and its “Bank On Save Up” initiative launched in February 2013.
Meanwhile, MBC Vice President of Business Banking John Shivers has helped business owners obtain loans to launch new enterprises.
Ted Rice of Montgomery Bank, another bank working on the task force, said the task force was addressing the concern that “people are spending millions of dollars on fringe financial services and getting no return on their money.”
Thelma Moorehead of Pulaski Bank, another task force member, said that enrolling people who are new to the banking system is a matter of face-to-face interaction and “overcoming objections.” Once enrolled, she said, a community banker needs to offer additional “financial literacy” so that new customers understand the benefits in continuing to use the bank, rather than a payday lender or check-cashing franchise.
