PayPal Holdings, Inc. announced it will deposit $135 million of its capital into mission-driven financial institutions and management funds that help underserved communities of color to fight barriers to economic equity, including Hope Credit Union, OneUnited Bank, Self-Help Federal Credit Union, CNote’s Wisdom Fund and various smaller institutions through a CNote Promise Account. These investments are part of PayPal’s $535 million commitment to strengthen Black businesses and underserved communities, and help drive financial health, access and generational wealth creation.
With these deposits, PayPal has now committed more than $500 million of capital through its racial equity initiatives, including a deposit in Optus Bank; an investment in LISC’s Black Economic Development Fund; investments in 19 Black and Latinx-led venture capital funds; and grants to Black-owned small businesses and community nonprofits that support them. PayPal is in active conversations with several additional financial institutions and expects to deploy more funds throughout the year.
“By partnering with financial institutions that have deep ties to Black and other underserved communities of color, we can create economic opportunity and make tangible progress toward closing the racial wealth gap,” said Dan Schulman, president and CEO, PayPal. “Addressing systemic economic disparities and injustice will take sustained action across the private and public sectors. We are committed to doing our part to break the cycle of inequality.”
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“Financial institutions owned by people of color play an outsized role in closing the racial wealth gap by providing greater access to financing for diverse business owners and homebuyers,” said Bill Bynum, CEO, Hope Credit Union. “Unfortunately, investment in these institutions and the communities they serve has never been adequate. PayPal’s strategy recognizes that in an increasingly diverse nation, investing in racial equity is not only the right thing to do, but it’s good for business.”
“PayPal’s investment in the Promise Account will mobilize deposits across CNote’s nationwide network of mission-driven depository institutions, fostering greater capital access and economic justice for communities of color,” stated Catherine Berman, CEO, CNote. “PayPal’s Wisdom Fund commitment is an investment in the future of women of color, providing the loan capital, business coaching and funding research to fuel greater economic freedom and wealth creation for BIPOC women business owners across America. Working together, we can help address the system, not just the symptoms, behind economic inequality in America.”
“Partnerships between America’s leading corporations, like PayPal, and Black-owned institutions like OneUnited Bank, are critical to creating the access to capital needed to address the economic challenges of underserved communities,” said Kevin Cohee, chairman and CEO, OneUnited Bank. These types of deposits make lending and social justice programs possible. OneUnited Bank looks forward to continuing to build this relationship with PayPal as we fight to eradicate the racial wealth gap.”
“For more than 40 years, Self-Help has worked to create homeownership and economic opportunities for all. We are deeply committed to helping women, people and families of color, and other underserved families to create and build wealth,” shared Steve Zuckerman, president, Self-Help Federal Credit Union. ”Historic disparities have hindered fair access to credit and the ability to build generational wealth because of race, gender and nationality. PayPal’s investment in community development financial institutions, like Self-Help, will go a long way in the fight for economic equity; their investment with Self-Help will support our work to expand small businesses, housing and other economic opportunity for historically underserved communities.”
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