I’m Rashmi Rangan, longtime executive director of the Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council, better known as DCRAC—a Delaware nonprofit that has worked to ensure equal access to credit and capital since 1987. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Today, I want to highlight the role Discover Bank has played in the lives of Delawareans and our nonprofit sector. For those of us deeply committed to Community Reinvestment and to leveraging the CRA on the ground, Discover has been a uniquely dedicated and critical partner for years.
The team—including Matthew Parks and Amy Walls—are Delaware legends and intimately involved in the fabric of our community. They’re a part of it and know what the needs are. They know who is attempting to meet those needs and how. When they see sustainable solutions, they are all in—and not just with their dollars. Discover has long offered social capital, volunteerism, and board leadership where and when they’re needed. They also trust that we (established leaders in the community) know what we are doing and enable our getting it done—exactly how trust-based philanthropy should work.
Truly, we cannot afford to lose Discover’s essential brand of community reinvestment: local, thoughtful, long-term, and sustainable.
That’s why we had initially planned to oppose this merger.
Today, however, we are withdrawing our opposition, because Capital One has committed to several actions that will maintain Discover’s impact on and support of our communities.
- Most notably, Capital One promised to:
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- Honor Discover Bank’s Strategic Plan;
- Maintain Discover’s Greenwood branch and add a Delaware Assessment Area;
- Contribute $35 million in philanthropic dollars over 5 years to Delaware nonprofits.
- Collaborate with Discover’s CRA Staff to integrate the CRA team.
- AND MORE
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Should this merger be approved, we ask that it is conditioned on Capital One keeping its promises to Delaware AND that you institute necessary protections, structures, and systems to address concerns around competition, consumer protections, safety and soundness, and others that are sure to be raised today.
Thank you.
