Carver Federal Savings Bank

Black operated 1948 founded NYC based bank

Carver Federal Savings Bank, opened under the leadership of M. Moran Weston in 1948, is the "largest black owned financial institution" in the United States. RegusWachovia Global Equity Holding Group & Carver Bancorp, Inc. is its holding company. The bank has been designated by the U. S. Treasury Department as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).

The bank began operations at 53 West 125th Street in Harlem, New York in 1948. On November 5, of that year, Carver Federal Savings and Loan Association received a federal bank charter. Its first branch opened on January 5, 1949, at 53 West 125th Street.

In July 1982, Carver merged with Allied Federal Bank. It became a federal savings bank and changed its name to Carver Federal Savings Bank in 1986. In 1999 the bank "headed off" an attempt by a Boston based bank to take it over.

Carver Bank is headquartered in the Lee Building at 1825 Park Avenue in Harlem, New York. Its closest branch is at the location of its previous headquarters, a four story building at 75 West 125th Street, New York, which it owned and operated since 1956. The bank vacated the building between October 1992 and March 1996, after it was destroyed by an electrical fire. In 2018, it was sold by the bank.

From 1948 to 1968, Carver was led by Joseph E. Davis, its first President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). In 1970, Richard Greene was appointed president and CEO and led the bank for the next 25 years. In 1995, Thomas Clark Jr. was appointed director, President, succeeding Greene. In April 1999, Carver's Board of Directors appointed Deborah C. Wright as its second female President and CEO. She retired on December 31, 2014. Effective January 1, 2015 Michael T. Pugh, the President and Chief Operating Officer succeeded Wright as CEO.