Dec 7, 2017 | Payday Lending, Public Policy Blog, Publications
Providing Safe, Affordable, and Profitable Small Loans as the Regulatory Landscape Evolves Read the full Policy Points here.
Nov 29, 2017 | IDAs and CSAs, Public Policy Blog
Southern Bancorp is committed to encouraging healthy savings habits, encouraging policy changes that incentivize individual and family savings programs, and removing policy barriers to accessing savings. That’s because we believe the best way to build communities and...
Sep 11, 2017 | Public Policy Blog, Publications
By James Owen, 2016-2017 Southern Bancorp Fellow For the past fifteen months, I have worked as a policy fellow at Southern Bancorp, learning about smart savings habits and benefits, statistics about individual and family savings, and Southern’s many savings services...
Mar 1, 2017 | News, Tax-time Savings
Financial emergencies don’t follow a schedule. Flat tires, leaky rooftops, or unexpected bills can pop-up without warning to disrupt your financial life, which is why Southern Bancorp and Southern Bancorp Community Partners are encouraging you to take the pledge to...
Dec 13, 2016 | Payday Lending, Publications
In 2009, the last Arkansas payday loan store closed for business. At the industry’s peak, three years earlier, payday lenders operated 275 stores across the Natural State. Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending (AAAPL – www.stoppaydaypredators.org), a...
Oct 26, 2016 | News, Tax-time Savings
When it comes to tax time, it’s probably safe to assume that most folks aren’t thinking about savings. But that’s exactly what we at Southern Bancorp had on our mind in 2016 when we unveiled the Split, Save and Win sweepstakes aimed at encouraging people to save a...
Sep 12, 2015 | Public Assistance Asset Limit Reform, Public Policy Blog, Publications
How Arkansas can Lessen Reliance on SNAP & TANF and Support Economic Independence by Lifting Asset Limits Read Policy Points 42 here.
Apr 2, 2015 | IDAs and CSAs, Public Policy Blog
Despite the general economic recovery in the United States, income inequality and wealth inequality are expanding. Perhaps more critically, it is becoming more and more difficult for families with lower wealth or income to achieve upward economic mobility. These two...
Jan 30, 2015 | IDAs and CSAs, Public Policy Blog
This week, the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) released its annual Assets and Opportunity Scorecard. The Scorecard provides a comprehensive look at Americans’ capacity to accumulate wealth by examining how well residents prosper in the 50 states and...
Dec 19, 2014 | Public Policy Blog
As a rural community bank and U.S. Treasury certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), Southern is fully aware of the importance of CDFIs in rural markets throughout the country. In our recent paper, Banking in Rural America: Insight from a CDFI,...
