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SHARE Charlotte is proud to partner with many generous organizations as part of our community-wide giving promotions, and our recent partnership with Bank of America during our annual summertime Shop for GOOD was no exception. For several years, Bank of America has championed SHARE Charlotte’s Shop for GOOD promotions and encouraged our city to underwrite the needs of the nonprofits by purchasing the items from the charities’ Amazon wish lists.  

With in-person volunteering opportunities limited and nonprofit organizations needing financial support more than ever, Bank of America recognizes the need for alternative ways to give back. “People want to help, but sometimes identifying how to do so can be overwhelming,” said Bank of America’s Charlotte market president, Charles Bowman. “Shop for GOOD removes some of those barriers by offering a consolidated platform for people to support organizations they care about.” 

We asked Bank of America to respond to a few questions and were truly impressed to learn about all the things this Queen City-based, global corporation is doing to support their teammates, clients and communities during these challenging times. We think you will be, too! 

What has Bank of America's role been in supporting communities and employees through current events?

In June, Bank of America announced a $1 billion, four-year commitment to help local communities address economic and racial inequality accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic? That’s right: $1 billion. This was in addition to millions of dollars given earlier this year to aid communities most affected by the coronavirus. In March, Bank of America made a $100 million philanthropic commitment — in addition to the $250 million in philanthropy they provide each year — to help tackle pressing health and humanitarian issues facing those most vulnerable, such as food insecurity, medical response and access to education. 

Here are a few other, recent commitments Bank of America has made to local communities:

Supporting communities through financial and in-kind gifts 

• To date, Bank of America has distributed over $114 million in assistance to more than 1,400 nonprofits addressing the impacts of coronavirus in communities in the U.S. and regions around the world.

• In May, Bank of America issued a coronavirus-focused corporate social bond – the first such offering by a U.S. commercial bank. The proceeds will be allocated to the healthcare industry — specifically, not-for-profit hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and manufacturers of health care equipment and supplies. 

• Bank of America expanded their partnership with Khan Academy, an educational nonprofit, to help scale their learning programs that provide free, interactive learning materials for students, and tools for teachers and parents primarily across the U.S., while schools are closed as a result of the coronavirus.

• Bank of America worked with the U.S. Business Roundtable and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to procure nearly 4 million face masks, donating them to the U.S. federal government and several U.S. states and cities for their disposition as needed.  

Caring for their approximately 212,000 teammates and their families

Bank of America’s No. 1 priority has always been ensuring the well-being of their ~212,000 teammates and their families, which includes taking many actions to ensure they are kept informed with timely information and have the resources they need to support their physical, emotional and financial wellness in the recent months. They have been doing this by: 

• Transitioning all teammates who identified themselves as high-risk as defined by the CDC, and all possible roles that can be virtual, to a work-from-home posture by procuring or delivering more than 90,000 laptops and Chromebooks to teammates around the globe. 

• Expanding employee benefits, including no-cost coronavirus testing, access to telehealth resources with 24/7 virtual access to doctors, enhanced back-up child care for our U.S.-based employees, physical and emotional wellness resources and vacation and personal day flexibility.

• Delivering 6.9 million medical face masks, 9.1 million gloves, 15,200 canisters of disinfectant wipes and 98,000 bottles of hand sanitizer. 

• Paying eligible teammates at U.S. financial centers for their regular, full weekly schedule, even if their scheduled hours are reduced, and providing a special supplemental payment of $200 per pay period

• Committing to no layoffs or job reductions in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus impacts. 
   

In the current environment, how is Bank of America continuing to serve their clients?  

Bank of America is committed to devoting all necessary resources to their clients’ and teammates’ personal safety, while maintaining all of the services their clients rely on.  

Keeping their clients and teammates safe in financial centers by:

• Keeping financial centers open, an important part of Bank of America’s fundamental role in their communities. Please use the Financial Center and ATM locator to check the hours and services available in your area.

• Taking proactive steps within their financial centers to enhance cleaning procedures to limit the risk of exposure, based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and following local restrictions on the number of clients that can enter at one time. 

Adjusting their strategy to accommodate the current environment by:

• Adapting how they run the business, how they connect, how they operate and how they interact with clients. They have built a huge digital platform that helps them do that in a better way. 

• Leaning heavily on their digital platform and their automated capabilities – whether that's advanced centers, Erica, ATMs, or their digital platform – to connect with clients. 

Continuing to offer convenient and secure mobile banking:

• Bank of America’s Mobile Banking app2 and Online Banking are available as convenient ways to check account status, pay bills and deposit checks at any time and from almost anywhere.

• Customers can also use their phone’s digital wallet to pay at stores where they see the contactless symbol (so there is no need to touch cash or in many cases, even the terminal!), as well as to make online purchases and in-app transactions at participating merchants.

What is Bank of America most proud of being able to champion during these times?

Racial inequality has been compounded by the disproportionate impact of the current health and humanitarian crisis. Bank of America feels the urgency to take action and do more now within the communities we work and live. 

Bank of America is proud of the actions they have taken over the past several weeks to build on their decades of work to advance social justice, economic mobility and inclusive communities, most notably including:

• Their $1 billion, four-year commitment mentioned earlier. 

• A $25 million commitment to help fuel the launch of a new Smithsonian Institution initiative that will examine how Americans currently understand, experience and confront race, its impact on communities and how that impact is shaping the nation’s future. 

• In partnership with iHeartMedia, the launch of Black Information Network (BIN), the first and only service airing 24/7 comprehensive national news audio for Black communities. 

Thank you, Bank of America, for your continued partnership and commitment to supporting our local nonprofit community!