2021 CSBS Community Bank Case Study Competition Journal

SECOND PLACE: University of Arkansas

asset limits were banned, the families who rely on TANF food subsidies would be able to save, build wealth, and escape poverty. The second policy recommendation is that store-front pay day lenders should be banned in Mississippi. They are already banned in Arkansas as of 2008 for violating usury laws. In the state of Mississippi, where roughly a third of SBB’s branches are located, there are more store-front pay-day lenders than there are McDonald’s, Burger Kings, and Starbucks combined. Loans from pay-day lenders can carry triple digit annual percentage rates and are easily accessible. SBB believes that if store-front pay-day lenders were banned in Mississippi, it would give community banks and CDFIs, who offer small dollar loans at a reasonable interest rates and amortization periods, the ability to protect distressed citizens in this market from predatory lending and promote economic fairness. Summary Southern Bancorp is a unique organization that places a strong emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and economic fairness in underserved communities throughout Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta. Southern Bancorp consists of three components. Southern Bancorp, Inc. is a certified B Corporation that exercises control over bank management and policy. Southern Bancorp Community Partners is a Community Development Financial Institution, 501 (c) (3) fund. Southern Bancorp Bank engages in consumer and business lending while also providing financial services to the community.

These three partners align their focus to balance mission and margin to achieve their Big, Hairy, Audacious goals. Southern Bancorp Bank operates in areas with modest income; therefore, it makes smaller dollar loans compared to state and national averages. Mortgage loans at SBB are over $60,000 less than the Arkansas and Mississippi average. Although the lending area of SBB is more impoverished than the surrounding areas, a higher percentage of mortgage applications are accepted compared to the Arkansas and Mississippi state averages. Small business loans have a lower average loan size than peers. The COVID-19 pandemic shook the financial world to its core, and SBB took immediate actions to help its customers and local community. Branches were closed, employees operated remotely, services were moved online, and many of the fees associated with transactions were waived to help ease the

The COVID-19 pandemic shook the financial world to its core, and SBB took immediate actions to help its customers and local community.

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