The Bronx continues to have the highest percentage of families without access to basic financial services in the city, but a local community bank says it is working to change that.<\/p>\n
Ponce Bank, headquartered in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx, is focused on expanding financial access in neighborhoods long considered \u201cbank deserts,\u201d where traditional banking options are scarce.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not about maximizing profit,\u201d said Carlos Naudon, president and CEO of Ponce Bank. \u201cWhat we are all about is helping people grow and prosper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naudon said when he entered the banking industry in the 1970s, there were 13 banks headquartered in the Bronx. Today, only two remain.<\/p>\n
That abandonment hit communities that were already struggling, said Naudon, noting that many Bronx residents \u2014 particularly immigrants \u2014 were left without access to loans, credit or pathways to financial growth.<\/p>\n
According to city data, more than 13% of Bronx families are unbanked, a rate significantly higher than the national average.<\/p>\n
Ponce Bank operates three branches across the borough and focuses on providing basic financial tools, such as checking and savings accounts, small business loans and mortgages.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we provide are financial instruments \u2014 bank accounts, loans, mortgages \u2014 so people can grow their businesses, grow their personal wealth and pass it on to the next generation,\u201d Naudon said.<\/p>\n
The bank recently received a $35 million deposit from New York state, allowing it to expand services for underserved communities. The funding will also support small local businesses and help finance free financial education programs.<\/p>\n
Ponce Bank offers year-round financial literacy and \u201cfinancial mastery\u201d courses at no cost, covering topics ranging from balancing a budget to applying for a loan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe teach everything from how to manage your books to how to deal with the bank,\u201d Naudon said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bronx continues to have the highest percentage of families without access to basic financial services in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-72190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}