Urban Partnership Bank was a U.S.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cred ...

-insured, full-service

community development bank Community development bank (CDB) or Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) is a development bank or credit union that focus on serving people who have been locked out of the traditional financial systems such as the unbanked or under ...

in the United States with $1.4 billion in assets. It was established August 20, 2010 when it acquired the deposits and some of the assets of ShoreBank from the FDIC. It was headquartered in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. After chronic losses, it was acquired by on Jan 30, 2019 by Providence Bank & Trust. The bank's stated mission was to build vibrant urban neighborhoods, promote economic and environmental sustainability in distressed and underserved areas of Chicago,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, and

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. Its customers ranged from individuals to small businesses, nonprofits, foundations, and

faith-based organizations A faith-based organization is an organization whose values are based on faith and/or beliefs, which has a mission based on social values of the particular faith, and which most often draws its activists (leaders, staff, volunteers) from a particula ...

. The bank placed a special emphasis on serving Underbanked populations.

Origin

Urban Partnership Bank was founded in 2011 by the former management of the failed, but politically connected, ShoreBank after the FDIC took the unusual step of permitting the current management team to remain in place and maintain ownership of ShoreBank by allowing them to purchase ShoreBank through the newly chartered Urban Partnership Bank. Although ShoreBank’s President William Farrow was brought on after regulators ordered ShoreBank to raise additional capital, it is highly unusual for the FDIC to resell to the managers who ran the failed bank. The Urban Partnership Bank became a viable institution thanks to capital injections from large US banks totaling $140 million,

write down A write-off is a reduction of the recognized value of something. In accounting, this is a recognition of the reduced or zero value of an asset. In income tax statements, this is a reduction of taxable income, as a recognition of certain expenses ...

s taken on nonperforming assets by the FDIC which cost taxpayers $367.7 million and a loss-share agreement to cover future additional losses on assets. Urban Partnership Bank acquired all of ShoreBank's $1.54 billion in deposits and most of its $2.16 billion in assets. The FDIC and Urban Partnership Bank shared the losses of $1.41 billion of those assets at 20% and 80%, respectively. The new bank was capitalized with nearly $140 million. In July 2011 Urban Partnership Bank was certified as a

community development financial institution A community development financial institution (US) or community development finance institution (UK) - abbreviated in both cases to CDFI - is a financial institution that provides credit and financial services to underserved markets and populations, ...

(CDFI). As such, other institutions could receive

Community Reinvestment Act The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA, P.L. 95-128, 91 Stat. 1147, title VIII of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1977, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law designed to encourage commercial banks and savings associations to hel ...

credit for depositing their funds in the bank. It was eligible to apply for programs through the CDFI Fund that support its mission to revitalize its urban neighborhoods. Urban Partnership Bank was also certified as a Minority Depository Institution (MDI), which meant that the bank was working towards improving and strengthening the community's overall well-being.

Operations history

After enduring significant losses every year since its creation, the bank moved to cut its operating costs in 2016 by reducing its overall number of branches and employees. This resulted in stable fourth quarter numbers and the bank's first ever profit. In September 2018, Providence Bank & Trust of

South Holland, Illinois South Holland is a village and south suburb of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States, within Thornton Township. The population was 21,465 at the 2020 census. History The area currently occupied by South Holland, Illinois, was first ...

, a bank with 12 branches in the Chicago area, announced that it would purchase Urban Partnership. The acquisition was completed on Jan 30, 2019.

Leadership

Urban Partnership Bank was led by a team of experienced financial services professionals with roots in the community. Urban Partnership Bank President William Farrow and Executive Chairman David Vitale have said that their personal histories led them to take on the task of filling ShoreBank’s shoes.Urban Partnership Bank execs lay out plans for former ShoreBank
/ref>

Serving the underbanked

Urban Partnership Bank positioned itself as a lower-cost competitor to currency exchanges and other cash-checking outlets, providing transaction services like prepaid cards to consumers who didn’t have bank relationships. The bank was closing loan offices and big branch locations and replacing them with “micro-branches” or full-service banking offices that were more welcoming to its customers.
/ref>

Branch locations

In Chicago, the bank’s branches served the communities of Chatham, Austin, Bellwood, Bronzeville, Greater Grand Crossing, South Shore, Kenwood, Loop, West Ridge, and Stone Park. The bank also maintained branches in Cleveland and Detroit.

References

{{Authority control Banks based in Chicago Banks established in 2010 Companies based in Chicago Community development financial institutions Defunct banks of the United States 2010 establishments in Illinois