Webster Bank Corporate Responsibility Report: Social Supply Chain

Originally published in Webster Bank's 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report

Social Supply Chain

We began building our new Supplier Diversity program in 2022, integrating diversity and inclusion into our procurement process by laying a strong foundation with key internal and external stakeholders.

We developed policies, practices and procedures to ensure equal opportunity and enable access. As part of OCR, Supplier Diversity progress is reported to the Corporate Responsibility Committee (C-suite executives), which in turn reports to the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board.

As part of this effort, Webster partnered with a number of organizations that support women- and minority-owned businesses in New England and New York. Membership in these groups provided valuable opportunities to develop relationships and learn best practices. We’ve been able to increase our visibility in this space by participating in supplier diversity matchmaker events and other external initiatives that promote opportunities for diverse vendors.

Internally, we are working to align our processes and lower barriers to entry by fine-tuning the onboarding process for low-risk vendors. We also developed colleague training to emphasize the important role our colleagues play in making the new Supplier Diversity program a success. We will support this with internal "road shows" across the footprint in 2023. The new Webster Supplier Diversity page went live in 2022, and an online vendor portal is scheduled for 2023.

Access to Capital 
Webster believes strongly in empowering people and strengthening communities by expanding access to capital through support for:

Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) 
Finance affordable housing, community facilities and small businesses.

Community Development Corporations (CDCs) 
Focus on revitalizing the areas in which they are located; typically, underserved neighborhoods that have experienced disinvestment.

SBICs and SBA-certified development corporations 
Help grow small businesses, especially Minority- and Womenowned Business Enterprises.

Small Business 
We understand the challenges that small business owners face and we work with them to find the right products and services to meet their needs.

In 2022, Webster was:

• Recognized as the Top 7(a) Lender of the Year in both Connecticut and Rhode Island.
• Named Top Third-Party Lender of the Year (504 loans) by the Connecticut District of the U.S. Small Business Association.
• Ranked among the Top 100 Most Active SBA 7(a) Lenders in the country for the 2022 fiscal year.

Webster Connect Checking 
In 2022, we were pleased to introduce Webster Connect Checking. This product provides unbanked and underbanked clients with financial services with limited fees to help them save, grow and access their money in a reliable way.

Webster Connect was launched in the New York metro area in late 2022, and it will be offered across all Webster locations by mid-2023.

This product has been certified by the Cities for Financial Empowerment for meeting the Bank On National Account Standards for 2023–2024. Bank On collaborates with financial institutions to provide clients with account options that meet safety and affordability standards.

To learn more about Webster Bank’s commitment to corporate responsibility, visit our CR webpage.

For full details about Webster Bank's 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report, visit here.