One of the country’s “most progressive banks” hasn’t put its money where its mouth is.
Meet Amalgamated Bank. The bank claims to be committed to economic justice, including “racial and economic justice” for Black Americans. But government data suggest the bank has failed to support communities that need it most.
Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, is the bank’s largest shareholder. The partners claim to be “aligned and united through shared values,” and Workers United has lauded Amalgamated Bank for offering programs that “provide access to banking regardless of people’s socioeconomic status.”
The numbers tell a different story.
According to data provided under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, between 2014 and 2021, Amalgamated Bank was, on average, more than twice as likely to deny Black applicants as White applicants for home mortgages. It’s worth noting that a large chunk of these denials were in the New York metro area, where the bank and Workers United are most active.
During that period, the bank denied 12 percent of black applicants on average, compared to denying just 5 percent of White applicants.
Amalgamated Bank was also quick to pull out of a low-income West Bronx community in the wake of the COVID pandemic, causing community uproar. In 2020, protesters gathered in the area to express their outrage over the closing of Amalgamated and Chase bank branches.
Pierina Sancheza, a New York city council candidate in 2020, led the protest, accusing the bank of leaving the community “high and dry” in the midst of the pandemic. The bank’s response was to direct patrons to go to the bank’s location in Co-op City — about two hours away by public transportation, according to Sanchez.
It’s not just the West Bronx that’s been hurt by bank closures. According to a 2021 Community Reinvestment Act Performance Evaluation, Amalgamated Bank’s record of opening and closing branches had adversely affected many low- and moderate-income customers across New York state.
The bank closed nine branches during the review period. Four of the closed branches were Banking Development District branches, meaning they were part of a program that encouraged banks to open locations in underserved areas.
These performance evaluations also show a failure to provide loans to low-income borrowers. In2013, New York state gave the bank poor marks, stating that its lending “demonstrated a poor distribution of loans among individuals of different income levels.” It also criticized the bank for failing to “originate any loans to low-income borrowers in 2011, 2012 and 2013.” According to the 2017 performance evaluation, the bank still “demonstrated a less-than-adequate distribution of loans among individuals of different income levels.”
The bank’s largest shareholder is organizing Starbucks baristas nationwide with an appeal to their progressive values. The bank’s broken promises to low- and moderate-income communities contradict its self-promotion as “America’s socially responsible bank,” while also undermining the credibility of Workers United as an advocate of economic and racial justice.
Perhaps the union should make good on its progressive reputation and get its bank back on track to help the very people both groups claim to support.