Rio Grande Valley Multibank Corporation Wins $1.6 Million Wells Fargo NEXT Award for Innovative Strategy to Improve Consumer Finance

Texas Border Business

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Employer-based, small dollar loans provide responsible alternatives to payday lending

(Brownsville, TX August 17, 2016) – Rio Grande Valley Multibank Corporation (RGVMB) won $1.6 million from the Wells Fargo NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance for its innovative strategy to expand the Community Loan Center Small-Dollar Loan Program throughout Texas and into additional states working with other mission-driven lenders and partners.

The program offers employer-based, small-dollar loans using a franchise model, which has the ability to scale geographically and become a viable competitor to payday loans. With the award, RGVMB plans to make more than 13,000 additional loans over the next 10 years producing more than $10 million in total borrower savings. RGVMB is the leader in envisioning, piloting, and creating the innovative product and proprietary lending platform.

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RGVMB provides financial products and development services to the Rio Grande Valley, particularly in the area of affordable housing and consumer lending. To date, over one hundred employers across Texas and Indiana (including municipal governments, local agencies, school districts, and privately-owned business) have partnered with the CLC to offer this benefit to their employees. Since its inception in October 2011, the CLC has originated 13,424 loans for a total of $10.9 million to employees of participating organizations in Texas and Indiana.

“We are tremendously excited for this opportunity,” said Nick Mitchell-Bennett, executive director of Community Development Corporation of Brownsville and administrator of the RGVMB. “It validates our endeavor to fight the abusive lending industry by providing a safe, affordable alternative to payday and car title loans.” 

“Never before has it been more necessary for CDFIs to embrace FinTech, explore new distribution models, and develop leading-edge, responsible financial products. RGVMB’s innovative consumer finance strategy proves that community lenders are the next frontier for innovation in responsible consumer finance,” said Fran Lutz, interim president and CEO of Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), the nation’s premier CDFI network. 

OFN presents the NEXT Awards in partnership with Wells Fargo and Prudential and support from the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Kresge Foundation.

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For more information, visit NEXTawards.org.

About RGV Multibank:

Founded in 1995, RGVMB is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) certified by the United States Department of Treasury. Our mission is to provide financial products and development services to the Rio Grande Valley, particularly in the area of affordable housing and consumer lending. All earnings are reinvested into the program for expansion and lending capital.  

 The Community Loan Center was established in 2011 by the RGVMB in order to offer low-interest, low-fee personal loans. Since October 2011, CLC has loaned $7.5 million to borrowers in the Rio Grande Valley. RGVMB and the Community Loan Center are administered by Community Development Corporation of Brownsville. To learn more, visit www.rgvcommunityloancenter.com