On October 17th, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) issued an overall grade of C to the nation's leading banks for their economic diversity practices. The C-rating falls between "needs improvement and poor" on the NAACP 2002 Banking Industry Report Card, an aspect of the Association's Economic Reciprocity Initiative (ERI).
Kweisi Mfume, NAACP President & CEO said: "The grades released today indicate that the country's multi-billion dollar banking industry needs to become more responsive to African-American consumers. Sweeping improvements must be implemented in the areas of employment and conducting business with black-owned firms as vendors and through marketing and advertising. The days have long gone when merely sponsoring community events or buying a table at a charity dinner is adequate corporate responsibility in terms of opening the doors of opportunity to provide economic equality."
The financial institutions were graded in five categories and received an overall grade of A- for community service, B for charitable giving, a C in both employment and advertising/marketing and a D+ in vendor development. The 11 bank holding companies surveyed include large commercial banks with full-service branch operations and revenues of at least $5 billion. This is the NAACP's second banking report card. The first was issued in 2000.
Although Bank of America earned the highest overall grade of a B-, it scored lower this year than in 2000. Two other institutions, Wachovia and JP Morgan & Chase, received an overall B-, which is an improvement over their score of C in 2000. Five banks earned an overall C grade, while three received C-ratings.
Mfume said: "This industry's poor grades are a serious indication of the barriers that stymie economic reciprocity within communities of color. It is disappointing that fair access and equal treatment are still not yet a reality within the banking industry."
The NAACP strongly urges people of color and supporting organizations to avoid spending and/or investing their dollars with the banks that earned poor or failing grades. The NAACP along with its 55 national co-sponsoring partners will make the report card available to groups and individual consumers on a nationwide basis.
ERI was launched in 1996 as a measuring tool to help consumers make informed choices about where to spend and/or invest their dollars. ERI partners include 55 supporting organizations, civil rights groups, fraternities and sororities, black-owned newspapers, and religious organizations; these include Black Enterprise magazine, Blacks in Government, Jack & Jill of America, Inc., the National Bar Association, National Black Media Coalition, National Council of Negro Women, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
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