Community Reinvestment Act “Outstanding” ratings across the board recognize the positive role of the bank in the communities it serves

HarborOne Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: HONE), the holding company of HarborOne Bank, today announced that for the second consecutive Community Investment Act (CRA) review, HarborOne Bank has earned an “Outstanding” rating by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The rating is the result of a rigorous analysis of the bank’s lending, community commitment, customer relations, outreach to impacted and underserved communities, and work with charitable organizations in its service area in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

“The ‘Outstanding’ rating for the bank is a testament to the men and women who work for HarborOne and year after year put their customers, and their community, first,” said James Blake, CEO of HarborOne. “It recognizes not only our loans and charitable giving to impacted communities, but also the hours HarborOne employees put in as volunteers, as non-profit board members, and in financial education. It is a recognition all banks aspire to, and few achieve.”

For more than 40 years, the FDIC has rated banks on a series of metrics aimed at determining whether institutions are playing a constructive community role, particularly in regard to low- and moderate-income lending, small business loans, job creation initiatives and charitable grants and donations. According to the FDIC data, less than 10 percent of all banks nationally receive an “Outstanding” CRA rating, and even fewer receive “Outstanding” ratings on all three components (Community Service, Lending, and Investment) of the Community Reinvestment Act review.

In analyzing the bank’s performance from December 2017 to January 2021, the FDIC praised HarborOne for “innovative and flexible” home and business loan strategies that enabled low- and moderate-income borrowers to buy homes and expand businesses in all areas that the bank serves. The CRA evaluators cited HarborOne’s issuance of 4,532 loans totaling $945.9 million that “benefitted low- to moderate-income individuals and small businesses.”

“The red-hot real estate market right now makes it imperative that banks find creative ways to provide funding to low-income and moderate-income families and individuals who otherwise could be shut out of home ownership – we are proud of our record of doing just that,” said Joseph Casey, HarborOne President.

The CRA evaluation also praised HarborOne for community development loans spurring affordable housing construction, small business loans that drove job creation, and the bank’s “leadership in financial education and community outreach.”

Finally, in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts HarborOne was recognized by the evaluators for extensive targeted grants and donations aiding programs for the homeless, for youth, for nutrition and for the elderly.

The CRA evaluation is available here: https://www.harborone.com/about-us/community-reinvestment-act

About HarborOne Bank

HarborOne Bank, headquartered in Brockton, Massachusetts, has $4.6 billion in assets. It serves the financial needs of consumers, businesses, and municipalities throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island through a network of 27 full-service branches and commercial loan offices in Providence and Boston. HarborOne has been included in Forbes’ Best in State Banks list for three consecutive years and Globe’s Best Places to Work in 10 of the last 11 years.

The Bank also provides a range of educational services through “HarborOne U,” with classes on small business, financial literacy and personal enrichment delivered virtually and at two campuses adjacent to our Brockton and Mansfield locations as well as at community partner locations throughout Rhode Island. HarborOne Mortgage, LLC, a subsidiary of HarborOne Bank, is a full-service mortgage lender with offices in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine, and is also licensed to lend in six additional states. NMLS ID: 2561. Licensed by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance. Rhode Island Licensed Lender. Equal Housing Opportunity.

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