PASADENA, Calif., May 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CIT Bank N.A. and its California branch division OneWest Bank today announced a significant increase in its support for working families and underserved communities.  The $6 million investment to Self-Help, a national community development financial institution, enables the creation of a new, full-service credit union branch in central Los Angeles. This investment builds on CIT's grant to Self-Help last year for the same effort.

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"CIT seeks to promote economic stability across Southern California where we live and work," said Steve Solk, president of Consumer Banking for CIT. "This investment reflects our commitment to enabling local residents the opportunity to achieve financial security through home ownership and affordable financial products and to empowering small businesses to grow and thrive."

Self-Help expects to serve more than 5,000 new individuals and families in need of affordable checking and savings accounts, mortgages, small business and commercial loans over the next 5-10 years through the new location. The new central Los Angeles location expands Self-Help's existing Southern California footprint, which currently includes two branches in Los Angeles County and a third in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego.

"CIT's investment allows Self-Help to leverage our existing presence in the region and scale our efforts to reach many more individuals and families in service of our mission -- to create and protect ownership and economic opportunity for all," said Steve Zuckerman, president of Self-Help Federal Credit Union. 

Approximately 85 percent of Self-Help borrowers qualify as low-income, 91 percent are people of color, and 57 percent reside in distressed areas. Self-Help expects to open the new branch and begin serving members in 2019.

About CIT
Founded in 1908, CIT (NYSE: CIT) is a financial holding company with approximately $50 billion in assets as of March 31, 2018. Its principal bank subsidiary, CIT Bank, N.A., (Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender) has approximately $30 billion of deposits and more than $40 billion of assets. CIT provides financing, leasing, and advisory services principally to middle-market companies and small businesses across a wide variety of industries. It also offers products and services to consumers through its Internet bank franchise and a network of retail branches in Southern California, operating as OneWest Bank, a division of CIT Bank, N.A. For more information visit cit.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook. Register to receive press releases at cit.mediaroom.com/email-alerts.

About Self-Help Federal Credit Union
Self-Help Federal Credit Union was chartered in 2008 to build a network of branches to serve working families and underserved communities. With 17 branches in California, 9 branches in Illinois, 2 branches in Florida, and 1 branch in Wisconsin, over $1 billion in assets, and serving more than 79,000 members, Self-Help Federal is one of the fastest-growing low-income designated credit unions in the country. It is part of the national Self-Help family of non-profit organizations whose collective mission is to create and protect ownership and economic opportunity for all. For 38 years, the Center for Community Self-Help and its affiliates have provided $7.9 billion in financing to help more than 149,000 low-wealth borrowers buy homes, start and build businesses, and strengthen community resources. For more information, go to www.self-helpfcu.org and www.self-help.org.   

CIT MEDIA RELATIONS: 
Olivia Weiss                                                                                    
(212) 771-9657                                
olivia.weiss@cit.com

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SOURCE CIT Group Inc.