Citizens Bank Achieves ‘Outstanding’ Community Reinvestment Act Rating

PROVIDENCE, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Citizens Financial Group (NYSE: CFG) announced today that its Citizens Bank, N.A. subsidiary has received the highest possible rating from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for its most recent performance under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

Adopted in 1977, the Act requires federally insured deposit-taking institutions to support the borrowing needs of all the communities where they do business, including low– and moderate–income areas. The regulation evaluates a bank’s lending, investment and service activities. Citizens’ performance under each of the three tests was deemed Outstanding. The evaluation covers the period from January 2016 to December 2018.

“We work hard at Citizens to serve the broad needs of our customer base and to strengthen the communities we serve,” said Bruce Van Saun, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Citizens Financial Group. “We are pleased that the OCC has recognized our efforts with this rating and remain strongly committed to being a responsible corporate citizen.”

Significant community achievements during the exam period which led to Citizens’ “Outstanding” rating include:

• Citizens extended nearly $2.1 billion to affordable housing and economic revitalization developments in local communities in the form of debt and equity. Citizens’ participation in commercial economic development projects helps stabilize and revitalize neighborhoods while providing affordable housing.
• Citizens loaned more than $2.3 billion to small businesses and to businesses in low- and moderate-income communities.
• Citizens made more than $5.7 billion in mortgage loans to low- and moderate-income borrowers and to borrowers in low- and moderate-income communities.
• As of December 2018 more than 34 percent of Citizens branches were readily accessible to residents of low- and moderate-income communities.

For more information about Citizens’ community efforts and to view the bank’s most recent Corporate Responsibility report, visit here.

About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $176.7 billion in assets as of March 31, 2020. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. Citizens helps its customers reach their potential by listening to them and by understanding their needs in order to offer tailored advice, ideas and solutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens provides an integrated experience that includes mobile and online banking, a 24/7 customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 2,800 ATMs and approximately 1,000 branches in 11 states in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. Consumer Banking products and services include a full range of banking, lending, savings, wealth management and small business offerings. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers a broad complement of financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as loan syndication, corporate finance, merger and acquisition, and debt and equity capital markets capabilities. More information is available at www.citizensbank.com or visit us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.