On December 14, Dallas-based Comerica Bank announced that it has exceeded its three-year $5 billion small-business lending commitment launched in 2021. Through 2023 third-quarter earnings, Comerica Bank achieved 102 percent of its commitment since the bank’s initial announcement. The impact of this commitment has supported more than 15,000 small businesses across the bank’s footprint.
“Small businesses inject opportunities and value into our communities, and they significantly impact their customers, employees, families and neighborhoods,” says Omar Salah, executive vice president and director of small-business banking. “For small businesses to grow, they need access to support, especially capital, to create effective business operations to meet their own clients’ needs. We strive to deliver an innovative customer experience, and our lending commitment over the past three years has reached thousands of businesses to help them thrive and succeed.”
Surpassing the $5 billion commitment resulted from a collaborative effort led by the bank’s small-business banking, community development and business banking teams to serve customers and communities with much-needed access to capital comprising of loans of $1 million or less. Since May 2021, Comerica Bank has added more than 100 small-business bankers, new digital solutions and innovative small-business products and services.
In June 2022, Comerica announced that it would add “more focused roles, such as small-business bankers in strategic locations, which enable colleagues to spend more quality time with customers and develop deeper, more meaningful relationships.”
Behind the leadership of Salah and Cassandra McKinney, executive director retail bank, Comerica Bank has expanded small-business banker coverage fivefold over the past 18 months, which now supports 80 percent of banking centers across all markets and reaches 92 percent of locations serving in low- to moderate-income communities.
“Our commitment to small business continues to focus on building relationships and providing access to capital, and doing so is especially crucial in underserved communities,” says Beatrice Kelly, senior vice president and director of community-development banking. “Successful small businesses uplift the well-being of the communities in which they operate and serve. It remains vital to remove barriers and assist businesses overcome challenges they face.”
Comerica recently received national recognition for innovative products and how the bank brings value to small-business customers. One of its products, Comerica Maximize, was named “Best in Class for Product Development” among financial institutions of all sizes during the 2023 Impact Awards in Cash Management and Payments presented by Datos Insights (formerly Aite-Novarica).
Last October, the American Bankers Association awarded Comerica Bank first-place in its prestigious Brand Slam Awards (integrated marketing category) for the bank’s “Opportunity for All” marketing campaign. The “Opportunity for All” campaign, targeting the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, highlights the bank’s resources and programs designed to bring value to its small-business customers.
Established in 1849 in Detroit, Michigan, Comerica Bank operates more than 400 banking centers across the country with locations in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Texas.
