We asked “How HIP is Your Bank?” and our HIP network replied.

Read the email reply from Wainwright Bank and learn more:

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Re: How HIP is your Bank?
From: “Steve Young”
Date: Mon, November 26, 2007 11:04 am

Dear Jessica: A loyal customer of ours sent us a link to your recent “How HIP is your Bank?” piece. Wainwright Bank is in its 20th year as, arguably, the leading socially progressive bank in the country, https://www.wainwrightbank.com, so I feel compelled to introduce ourselves to you. In response to the three questions you suggested asking when looking for a bank:

We offer unique products and services such as CommunityRoom.net, https://www.communityroom.net/default.asp, which among other things provides a free web space and the ability to accept online donations to any nonprofit client of the bank (it will generate over $1 million in donations in 2007 alone). Click on “View All Nonprofits” and you’ll quickly discern these are cutting-edge socially progressive organizations, both locally in

Boston and internationally. That’s no accident — we feel who our clients are helps define who we are. Another product is The Green Loan, http://www.wainwrightbank.com/html/personal/loans/green.html, which provides discounted financing for environmental home improvements. We have the first green branch built in the country to receive a Gold LEED certification and by Spring 2008 will have a total of 4 LEED certified branches. We’ve provided over $600 million in community development loans for affordable and special needs housing, homeless shelters, food banks, HIV/AIDS services, environmental protection, breast cancer research, immigration services inner-city schools and more, https://www.wainwrightbank.com/html/wia/index.html. Currently, over 50% of our commercial loan portfolio is committed to these types of loans. And these loans are market priced (not discounted) so they are profitable for the bank (especially with a 0% default rate over the last 18 years!), we attract depositors who want the satisfaction of knowing their money is being used to fund these projects, and our nonprofit clients are able to provide services they might not otherwise be able to. It’s a win-win-win! Because we’ve long been a champion for socially progressive causes, we feel we’ve created a sort of cultural capital — and we’re not afraid to use it. Whether we’ve been the only company, much less a bank, to read a letter from our Board of Directors to the General Court of Massachusetts opposing writing same-sex discrimination into the state constitution, or testifying on Capitol Hill in support of ENDA, or becoming a signatory of NOW’s Women-Friendly Workplace Pledge, we’re not afraid to use our voice. Indeed, we’ve created such a recognizable brand, our customers would wonder what is wrong if we didn’t speak out on such issues! Here’s some other ways we’ve used our voice, http://www.wainwrightbank.com/html/wia/ourWords.html (the August 13, 2007 presentation I gave to Northeastern graduate students provides a fairly comprehensive overview of our history and who we are). You’ll also find speeches from our Co-founder and Co-chairman, Bob Glassman, who is the primary visionary behind Wainwright Bank. We consider two bottom lines: the financial supports the social and vice versa. For example, for publicly-traded banks in

New England with assets between $500 million and $1 billion (Wainwright currently has $900 million) the median change in stock value from January through June of this year was -2.05%. In the same timeframe, Wainwright’s stock gained 26.36% in value. We’re all basically operating in the same market, selling the same products and services at pretty much the same pricing. We feel our social agenda is what makes the difference — and the fact we’ve received a wide range of media attention this year, including being named the “ultimate high-purpose company” of the 75 companies reviewed in Christine Arena’s new book, The High-Purpose Company. In Patricia Aburdene’s latest book, Megatrends 2010, she states, “Wainwright’s DNA is so deeply encoded with the commitment to social justice, you almost forget it’s a bank…” You’ll perhaps not find a more straight-forward business publication than Bank Director magazine. Their reporter, John Engen, recently wrote a fairly in-depth article that captured the essence of who Wainwright is, which is surprising since John himself said he knew nothing of SRI, green banking or any other progressive issues the bank is involved with prior to researching the article. If you’re interested: http://www.wainwrightbank.com/html/about/news/news/articles/Article_Rebel.pdf. I could go on and on, but I just wanted to give you a heads up that we’re out here and are fully prepared to affirmatively answer the questions you urged your readers to ask. Thanks for listening! Steve Steven F. YoungSenior Vice President, Consumer BankingWainwright Bank,

63 Franklin Street

Boston, MA

02110

http://www.wainwrightbank.com