Bing means business on banking in Detroit

Mayor Dave Bing is rewarding banks who invest locally with his business — and closing accounts at banks that he feels aren’t making enough home and small business loans in the city.

Crain’s reports that the city of Detroit, which pays $1 million in banking fees annually on $1 billion in investments, has streamlined its accounts since 2009, winnowing almost 300 accounts at 13 banks to 156 at 11 institutions in the city. He says his team is also compiling a database to track small-business and mortgage lending within the city limits.

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“I can’t tell you I’m satisfied with any of them just yet until I collect all of this data, until I analyze that,” he said. “That’s going to be somewhere in the next 30 to 60 days, and we’re going to be meeting with all of those banks.”

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