Bank of America named No. 1 lender to minority businesses

Jet, August 2, 2004

For the second year in a row Bank of America has been chosen as the No. 1 Small Business Administration (SBA) lender to minorities.

Numbers compiled by San Francisco-based consumer advocacy group, the Greenlining Institute, confirmed Bank of America's No. 1 status. By continuing to focus on the needs of minority-owned small businesses, the bank nearly tripled its overall SBA lending to minorities in 2003.

Bank of America, which is also the nation's one overall SBA lender (9,406 loans granted in fiscal year 2003), provided 40 percent of its SBA loans to minority-owned businesses and 40 percent ($128,684,000 out of $320,800,000), of its SBA loan dollars to minority-owned businesses. They also more than tripled the number of SBA loans to African-Americans. The bank's average SBA loan made to minorities in 2003 was $35,000.

"We are committed to the creation of strong communities across America by helping fuel the economic engine of small business," said Lynn Pike, Small Business Banking president. "By providing access to capital to a broad spectrum of entrepreneurs, we are able to help build the neighborhoods in which we do business."

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving 33 million consumer relationships with 5,700 retail banking offices, more than 16,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than ten million active users.

Bank of America is the No. 1 Small Business Administration lender in the United States. The company serves clients in 150 countries and has relationships with 96 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 82 percent of the Global Fortune 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (ticker: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.