Santander Announces "Inclusive Communities" Plan - A New $11 Billion, Five-year Community Commitment

BOSTON, Oct. 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Santander US CEO Scott Powell today announced Santander's "Inclusive Communities" plan, Santander Bank's new $11 billion, five-year commitment to lending, community development and charitable giving. The plan outlines Santander's commitment to communities across its eight-state northeastern U.S. footprint for 2017 through 2021, during which time Santander plans to increase its CRA activity by 50 percent and triple its investment in charitable grants.

Over the next five years, Santander has set of goal of:

• $9.1 billion in lending to underserved communities including,
• $4.2 billion in residential mortgage loans for low- to-moderate income families
• $1.9 billion in small business lending
• $3 billion in community development lending
• $1.9 billion in community development investments
• $55 million in charitable contributions
• 10 new retail branches in low- to moderate income and communities of color
• 60,000 community development volunteer hours in underserved communities

"This plan is the foundation of Santander's approach to supporting the communities where we live and work," said Powell, CEO of Santander US, the Bank's U.S. holding company. "We recognize that Santander's success is directly linked to the prosperity of our communities' families, businesses and neighborhoods.  By increasing lending, investments and financial education opportunities, we hope to boost the long-term economic success of low- and moderate-income individuals and neighborhoods."

Powell announced "Inclusive Communities" at a meeting this morning in downtown Boston where he was joined by public officials and National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) President and CEO John Taylor.

Taylor commented, "This is a good day for people in New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and my home state of Massachusetts. I want to applaud Santander for committing 11 billion dollars in investments and lending for underserved neighborhoods over the next five years. Santander's leadership showed a special dedication to working with community leaders and better understanding the credit needs in the areas they serve. We are very pleased that this commitment, and especially the ten new bank branches, will help individuals build wealth and neighborhoods build their economies."

"Inclusive Communities" was developed with significant input from and collaboration with more than 100 community-based organizations throughout the Bank's footprint.  Supported and facilitated by the NCRC, an extensive ten-month long process helped identify emerging community needs and strategies aimed at addressing the challenges faced by underserved communities in Santander's key markets.

In addition to the Bank's financial commitments, Santander is establishing a national Community Advisory Board (CAB) comprising representatives of not-for-profit community development organizations and financial inclusion advocates, as well as community development policy organizations, and representatives of local or state economic development or housing agencies.  Members of the CAB are:

• Dan Betancourt, Executive Director, Community First Fund, Lancaster, PA
• Will Gonzalez, Executive Director, Ceiba, Philadelphia, PA
• Phyllis Salowe Kaye, Executive Director of New Jersey Citizen Action, Newark, NJ
• Rev. Terrence Keeling, President/CEO Central Baptist Community Development Corporation, Wilmington, DE
• Chris Kui, Executive Director of Asian Americans for Equality, New York, NY
• Juan Leyton, Executive Director, Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, Boston, MA
• Luis Mora, Executive Director, Finanta, Philadelphia, PA
• Seila Mosquera, Executive Director, NeighborWorks New Horizons, New Haven, CT
• Christie Peale, Executive Director of the Center for New York City Neighborhoods, New York, NY
• Jesse Van Tol, Chief Operating Officer, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Washington, DC
• Jaime Weisberg, Senior Campaign Analyst, Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, New York, NY
• Sharon Conard Wells, Executive Director, West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation, Providence, RI
• Clark Ziegler, Executive Director, Massachusetts Housing Partnership, Boston, MA

The Bank is also establishing statewide/regional advisory boards to ensure ongoing community input and will be enhancing its current Community Development and CRA teams with the addition of 17 new positions in the coming years.

Santander Bank, N.A. is one of the country's largest retail and commercial banks with more than $79 billion in assets. With its corporate offices in Boston, the Bank's 9,700 employees, more than 650 branches, 2,100 ATMs and 2.1 million customers are principally located in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN) - one of the most respected banking groups in the world with more than 125 million customers in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. It is managed by Santander Holdings USA, Inc., Banco Santander's intermediate holding company in the U.S. For more information on Santander Bank, please visit www.santanderbank.com. 

Santander Holdings USA, Inc. (SHUSA) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN) (Santander), one of the most respected banking groups in the world with more than 125 million customers in the U.K., Europe, Latin America and the U.S. As the intermediate holding company for Santander's U.S. businesses, SHUSA includes six financial companies with more than 17,500 employees, 5.2 million customers and assets of over $135 billion. These include Santander Bank, N.A., one of the country's largest retail and commercial banks by deposits; Santander Consumer USA Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SC), an auto finance and consumer lending company; Banco Santander International of Miami; Banco Santander Puerto Rico; Santander Securities LLC of Boston; and Santander Investment Securities Inc. of New York.

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SOURCE Santander Bank, N.A.