The city and the nonprofit Operation HOPE will offer $100 to kids from low-income households, with banks playing an assisting role. “Once you own some stock, once you have an account, now you're watching that grow and you’re a participant in the” financial system, said John Hope Bryant, the nonprofit's founder and CEO.

Formerly incarcerated people have long faced barriers to entering the mainstream financial system. Banks such as Old National and Bank of Hawaii are taking steps to help them, but the industry can do more, according to a new white paper from the American Bankers Association Foundation.

Recruiting from competitors can be hard to pull off, and it won't create more equity in the industry. Some of the Best Banks to Work For are finding ways to develop, support and promote women who are already on the payroll.

Adelphi Bank in Columbus, Ohio, would be just the nation’s fourth depository with a predominantly African American board of directors. “The hope is that we change lives,” said Jordan Miller Jr., who would serve as president and CEO.

A financial literacy and aid program from a coalition of mayors will distribute 10 monthly payments of $350 to 125 youths via the Mastercard-branded Crescent City Card.

The Minneapolis company is planning a dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from its operations and the activities it finances, matching a commitment made by many of the nation’s largest financial institutions.

The Pennsylvania community bank lacked the resources to go all-in on developing a diversity, equity and inclusion policy, so it turned to grad students at Georgetown University for help.

Directors can urge executives to move more quickly in gauging their institutions’ vulnerability to extreme weather events, said acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu. He offered a list of five questions every board member should ask senior leaders about their progress.

Bank of New York Mellon will sever ties with the billionaire Gautam Adani’s contentious Carmichael thermal coal mine in Australia, the latest global financial institution to distance itself from the project.

The establishment of a climate risk division at the New York State Department of Financial Services is the latest in a series of moves by state and federal banking agencies aimed at requiring regulated companies to reckon with the impacts of global warming.

The establishment of the Office of Minority and Community Development Banking comes less than two months after the agency created an investment fund to match private investors with minority-owned banks and community development financial institutions.

Scott Anderson, president and CEO of Zions Bank, was recently elected chair of the American Bankers Association. In an interview, he encouraged Washington to scrutinize tech giants’ moves into financial services but expressed concern about some potential implications of financial agencies’ spotlight on climate change.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council’s report on climate risk in the financial sector is a backdoor attempt to implement the Green New Deal, a Republican member of the House Financial Services Committee writes.

Goldman Sachs Group, in an effort to win more deposits and build out its transaction banking segment, is offering companies slightly higher interest on their accounts if they meet environmental or other socially responsible goals.

Zions and BOK Financial are eager to meet the anticipated rise in loan demand despite regulatory attention on the financial risks associated with climate change.

A Louisiana panel delayed the approval of a $700 million state bond sale set to be underwritten by JPMorgan Chase as the attorney general pushes for information on the bank’s policies on gun control. 

Bank of America’s largest philanthropic initiative is reaching into new neighborhoods with programs dedicated to community building and leadership training.

Young entrepreneurs and soon-to-be heirs are expecting more social impact from their investments. Private banks are evolving in response — often by matching clients with like-minded advisors who are closer in age, and by hiring more women and people of color.

More than two dozen banks have said they can continue working with Texas and its local governments in the wake of new state laws seeking to punish financial institutions that have policies aimed at the gun and fossil fuel industries.