America’s Banks
Make It Possible
Whether buying a home, pursuing higher education, or launching a small business, America’s banks make it possible. Banks serve as a vital and trustworthy resource for families, small businesses, and communities during good times and bad.
Families
Banks remain fully committed to delivering the products and services hardworking families rely on to meet their needs, including expanding and protecting access to credit, small-dollar lending products, and emergency safety net tools like overdraft. Millions of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, leaving consumers with less cushion for emergencies and increasingly reliant on bank products to meet their needs. Banks deliver possibility for consumers through numerous services, like short-term liquidity and innovative new tools.
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Small dollar loans, credit cards, and other forms of short-term liquidity like overdraft are valued emergency safety net products for hardworking families who depend on them when met with an unexpected expense.
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To meet evolving consumer demands, banks have unveiled new innovative financial tools to strengthen transparency, expand choice, and lower costs for consumers. Learn more about these bank-led innovations empowering consumers with transparency and choice to meet their financial needs.
Small Businesses
For more than a century, banks have provided small businesses with the capital and resources they need to expand operations and create new jobs. This commitment to support Main Streets across America was especially evident during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and continues today.
Small Businesses are the backbone of our economy. They employ more than 60 million Americans and spearhead nearly 45% of our economic output. When COVID-19 hit, America’s banks mobilized to help small businesses across the country.
The Paycheck Protection Program: America’s leading banks immediately mobilized to help local businesses and their employees through the development and implementation of the PPP program, which ultimately helped protect more than 90 million jobs.
Providing Loans and PPP Funds: In partnership with the SBA, large banks provided more than half of all PPP funds ($408.7 billion) and extended 4.1 million loans, helping small businesses keep their doors open, their lights on, and their employees on the payroll.
Loan Forgiveness: CBA and our members led a coalition to successfully streamline forgiveness for PPP loans less than $150,000, amounting to the equivalent of $7 billion of additional small business relief.
America’s leading banks remain steadfastly committed to the shared goal of increasing access to credit in underserved communities, including among minority and woman owned small businesses. To further support underrepresented populations recovering from the pandemic, many of the nation’s largest banks have unveiled new initiatives designed to provide needed capital, technical assistance, and long-term recovery funds for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
While great strides have been made to help women and minority owned small businesses obtain the financing they need to be successful, there is more work to be done. By increasing access to credit, we can help ensure more Americans in underserved communities are able to achieve their dreams and build secure futures.
Supporting minority and woman owned small businesses
Small Business Spotlight
Providing Safe Home Healthcare
Breathing life into a floral shop
Serving children and families
While many businesses were impacted by the onset of COVID, few faced more challenges than the home care industry. Thankful Larry Aronson was able to receive his PPP loan from Investors Bank, which will soon be a part of CBA member bank, Citizens Bank, and ensure their clients safely received the care they needed while supporting their caregivers.
With much of Le Printemps’ business coming from hotels, weddings, and other events, they quickly found themselves affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Wells Fargo shares their story and how they were able to apply for and received both rounds of PPP loans.
Murriel Webb tells about her journey to securing a PPP loan that helped her daycare remain open and financially viable for the children and families they serve thanks to the support of Comerica.
Communities
Banks continue to make historic investments to help communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, address inequities made worse by the pandemic, and provide more pathways to economic growth for historically underserved communities.
Through these and other initiatives, banks are increasing investments, services and loans for low- and moderate-income communities and neighborhoods of color.
With a strategic focus on fostering economic empowerment, education and entrepreneurism in traditionally underserved populations and communities, banks are working to bring more hardworking Americans into the well-regulated banking system.
Amidst economic uncertainty stemming from historic inflation, supply-chain disruptions and continued pandemic disruptions, banks will continue to play an essential role as drivers of economic growth and opportunity.
Banks invest more than $500 billion annually into low- and moderate-income neighborhoods through the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and other projects.
America’s Banks Are Here to Help
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U.S. Bank
Vic Moea and Homero Aviles, owners of Sinful Subs in Las Vegas, worked in stride to make the most of the Payment Protection Program (PPP) so they could keep their entire staff on payroll through the economic uncertainty of COVID-19.
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PNC
Rainbow Tree Company needed a banking partner that could help it grow from 10% ESOP to 100% ESOP with favorable terms & support future acquisitions.
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Truist
‘Our income went to zero’: How one business owner is pulling through the pandemic
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Bank of America
How a New Jersey retailer reinvented itself during the coronavirus to keep the family business running
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JPMorgan Chase
In the middle of a pandemic, Minneapolis' Walker Art Center—and JPMorgan Chase—found a way to bring art education to the children who needed it most.
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Wells Fargo
Meaningful investments and support keep small business doors open. That’s why Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund is helping thousands of small business owners navigate the pandemic and plan for the future.
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Citi
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses of all sizes across the U.S. to shut down leading Congress to pass the CARES Act, Heather Felts and her Citi Customer Response Team mobilized quickly to help implement all aspects of the program.
More Resources
View and download fact sheets to learn more about how banks are supporting families, small businesses, and communities across the U.S.