Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

The company's home mortgage loans to low-income borrowers and small business loans in LMI geographies were consistently below or well below the percentage of such populations in its assessment areas.

Approximately 1.76% of total accounts are Bank On certified Forward Checking Accounts for low-cost, low-fee customers. The company offers subsidized pricing tiers for low-income customers through programs like the Affordable Housing Program and Advancing Access, and a $0 Fee Refinance Program saved borrowers approximately $3,790 per loan. The bank limits overdraft fees to one per day and provides a fee-free cushion for items under $50, with additional waivers introduced in 2024, indicating less than 8% of revenue from high-cost fees. Inclusion initiatives include the Advancing Access program, which pledged $125 million in loan originations and $3 million in grants, originating 179 loans totaling $58.9 million in 2024. The bank's CRA rating is "Satisfactory" as of its latest 2023 federal examination, and it undergoes independent fair-lending audits. For wealth building, the Access Homeownership Grant disbursed $264,500 to 29 borrowers in 2024, and FHLBNY programs awarded $731,000 to 44 LMI first-time homebuyers, but overall customer credit outcomes remain neutral. The Columbia Bank Foundation disbursed nearly $2.0 million in 2024, which is approximately 5% of its $400 million pre-tax profit. Financial literacy education is sponsored in six schools and 105 events were conducted in 2024. The company has 68 branches in New Jersey, with 10 situated in historically disadvantaged census tracts. Product simplicity efforts include the Bank On certified Forward Checking Account and Everyday Business checking with 500 free transactions, but comprehensive terms are in detailed rules and regulations.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

In 2024, the CEO pay ratio was 27:1, with the CEO receiving $2,759,021 and the median employee receiving $101,757.

The overall employee rating is 3.7 out of 5 stars based on 112 reviews, with 73% of employees recommending working at the bank and 94% approving of the CEO. The compensation and benefits rating is 3.6 out of 5 stars, though this rating decreased by 7% over the past 12 months. Some employee reviews mention low pay relative to workload, lack of pay increases keeping pace with inflation, and high turnover. There are also mentions of issues with management, including lack of support and favoritism, and a perceived gender pay gap.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

The company, as a financial institution, does not procure or trade physical commodities, making fair-trade certification N/A.

No substantiated forced or child labor incidents have been reported in the articles over the last three years, and the company expects its suppliers to operate free from such abuses. The company's Code of Ethics and Business Conduct Policy sets ethical expectations for all officers, employees, contractors, and board members, and expects vendors and service providers to adhere to its spirit. However, there is no specific percentage of supplier contracts that include enforceable ethical-sourcing clauses. The company collected data on supplier diversity in 2021 and recommends that at least one of three considered vendors is diverse, but no specific percentage of procurement budget directed to diverse suppliers is provided.

Planet-Friendly Business

The company's 2023 ESG report includes a new disclosure index assessing alignment with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), indicating alignment is planned.

Prior prior to a merger, Umpqua completed climate-related stress testing using a physical risk scenario on a 30-year mortgage portfolio, and in 2024, the company plans to use a Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for the Greening of the Financial System (NGFS) scenario on its commercial portfolio. The company has standardized purchasing to 30% post-consumer recycled copy paper. Procurement teams prioritize renewable materials for office supplies, print products, and packaging where possible, with 14% of office supply spend and 27% of print product weight from renewable materials. An internal "think before you ink" campaign led to a 28% reduction in overall paper consumption over three years. A solar panel pilot project initiated in 2023 at a large regional location generated an average of four MWH in 2024, satisfying most of that building's energy requirements. The company has implemented recycling programs with different colored garbage bags for waste sorting and has a designated dumpster for cardboard recycling at its Corporate Headquarters. In 2024, 1,522,377 pounds of paper were shredded and recycled, and 4,517 electronic assets were recycled.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

Columbia Bank has numerous formal partnerships, including with NCRC and its 600+ member organizations, and at least 11 specific community groups listed in reports.

The company committed $8.1 billion over 5 years (2024-2028) to community benefits, which represents approximately 15.5% of its $50 billion assets (post-merger) or 77.9% of its $10.4 billion assets (as of Dec 31, 2024), indicating a significant reinvestment. No cultural appropriation incidents have been reported. The company does not explicitly mention a formal cultural impact assessment protocol, nor does it provide a specific local employment ratio. While a hotline and whistleblower policy exist, specific community-focused grievance mechanisms or their coverage are not detailed. FPIC processes are not applicable to the company's operations. Employees serve on non-profit boards, but there is no specific community representation on governance bodies. The Columbia Bank Foundation supports 'The Arts,' but no specific percentage of reinvestment is allocated to cultural or linguistic preservation. The bank maintains a directory of multilingual employees and uses diverse languages in marketing, demonstrating strong local language support. No specific cultural incident response framework is detailed beyond general policies. All employees complete mandatory training, including culturally respectful customer service and unconscious bias, covering 100% of the workforce.

Safe & Smart Tech

The company requires each employee to acknowledge and complete training on its Code of Ethics upon hire and annually, which includes policies on using confidential information only for legitimate business purposes and not accessing client information without a legitimate reason.

Access to personal information is limited to employees who need it to provide products and services. The company explicitly prohibits employees from using confidential information for personal advantage or profit, or to compete with Columbia, and states that computer networks, email systems, voice mail systems, and server logs are monitored regularly for security and investigations. The company uses security measures that comply with federal law, including computer safeguards and secured files and buildings. Columbia Financial, Inc. states it will not share investor alert information with any third party. However, the company's privacy notice indicates that users cannot limit the sharing of their personal information for everyday business purposes, general marketing, or joint marketing with other financial companies, although they can limit sharing with affiliates for marketing purposes and the company does not share with nonaffiliates for marketing. The company's privacy practices are outlined in a public privacy policy, and users can unsubscribe from investor alerts. The company's privacy notice became effective on May 1, 2023. The company's CISO holds multiple industry certifications in information security.