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Danbury-based Promontory MortgagePath LLC has launched its initiative to support community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and minority depository institutions (MDIs), with Industrial Bank and Optus Bank as the first participants.
The initiative is focused on expanding mortgage credit access in underserved communities, Promontory MortgagePath said in a statement. Washington-based Industrial Bank, the oldest Black-owned commercial bank in the Mid-Atlantic region, began offering mortgages through Promontory MortgagePath’s platform in April. South Carolina-based Optus Bank, an MDI and CDFI, is implementing the program.
“Industrial Bank has been committed to helping families in our communities purchase homes, grow small businesses, and build wealth since 1934,” Industrial Bank President and CEO Doyle Mitchell said in the statement. “Our partnership with Promontory MortgagePath will mean more people in our community will be able to purchase homes – the most important pillar to closing the wealth gap.”
Promontory MortgagePath said its program offers exclusive pricing, resources and joint marketing opportunities to participating institutions. These services help lower the barriers to entry into mortgage lending and allow these institutions to participate in the mortgage market profitably, with the overall goal of helping build long-term wealth in communities through increased homeownership, Promontory MortgagePath said.
“For more than 100 years, Optus Bank has been fighting to counter racial disparities. We strive to build wealth for all customers, with a special focus on those impacted by the 400-year legacy of exploitation and racism,” said Optus Bank President and CEO Dominik Mjartan. “Together with Promontory MortgagePath, our goal to create $100 million in Black wealth over the next 10 years is more attainable.”
Participating institutions also gain access to Promontory MortgagePath’s point-of-sale platform, mortgage fulfillment services and compliance support to accelerate their entry into the market and delivery of mortgage services, the statement said.
Promontory MortgagePath said it is working with the Community Development Bankers Association to identify partners to participate in the initiative.
The company’s founder and CEO, former Comptroller of the Currency Gene Ludwig, has been focused throughout his career on access to responsible credit and other mechanisms to help families, Promontory MortgagePath said.
“We are proud to support Industrial and Optus banks in driving homeownership in their communities,” Ludwig said. “These community-focused financial institutions are the lifeblood of wealth-building opportunities for the customers they serve. CDFIs and MDIs are a critical component to addressing big societal issues – from unemployment to wage stagnation – facing so many communities. These problems are more acute for Americans of color. And this is why Promontory MortgagePath is such a supporter of these banks.”
