FirstBank Partners with Operation Hope to Offer Financial Counseling for Underserved Populations

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (May 8, 2018) – FirstBank is partnering with Operation HOPE, an award-winning national nonprofit organization that works to increase economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income populations, to launch HOPE Inside programming at two branches in Nashville and Memphis.

HOPE Inside is a financial empowerment model that provides coaching on credit and money management, homeownership preparedness, and small-business development programs, all offered at no cost to the client.

FirstBank’s HOPE Inside programs will initially concentrate on helping people establish a financial foundation for home ownership and establish good credit scores. Coaches in Nashville and Memphis will work inside designated FirstBank financial centers.

In Nashville, HOPE Inside will operate from FirstBank’s MetroCenter office located at 1 Vantage Way, Suite 230. The HOPE Inside in Memphis will operate from the FirstBank financial center at 6482 Poplar Ave.

Those receiving counseling do not have to be FirstBank customers or have an account with any other bank.

“This is a great opportunity for FirstBank to continue its outreach to underserved communities in Nashville and Memphis,” said FirstBank President and CEO Chris Holmes. “We are committed to doing our part to help deserving individuals and families increase their financial stability and plan for the future.”

Calvin Dunning, a vice president and fair lending officer at FirstBank’s MetroCenter office who was recently named to Operation HOPE’s Midwestern Board of Directors, will serve as the bank’s liaison for the program.

“In addition to being available in our financial centers, our Operation HOPE financial well-being coaches will conduct 10 to 12 workshops during the year at various locations in the community, such as churches, libraries and community centers,” Dunning said. “The Nashville coach will also be bilingual in order to provide help to members of city’s growing Hispanic population.”

“We are honored to partner with FirstBank to expand our HOPE Inside presence in communities in Nashville and Memphis,” said Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer John Hope Bryant. “The mission of HOPE is to create a stronger, more inclusive economy through financial empowerment – and financial dignity. Imagine the difference HOPE Inside is making in people’s lives as they improve their credit scores by 100 points or more. Think about the impact on families and communities as more people and more local businesses succeed. And, consider the new investments and jobs that come to communities where people are financially secure.”

About FirstBank

Nashville-based FirstBank, a wholly owned subsidiary of FB Financial Corporation (NYSE: FBK), is the third largest Tennessee-headquartered bank, with 58 full-service bank branches across Tennessee, North Alabama and North Georgia, and a national mortgage business with offices across the Southeast. The bank serves five of the major metropolitan markets in Tennessee and, with approximately $4.7 billion in total assets, has the resources to provide a comprehensive variety of financial services and products.

About Operation HOPE, Inc.

Since 1992, Operation HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to “silver rights” with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserved – disrupting poverty for millions of low- and moderate-income families across the nation. Through our community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the 2016 Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 2.8 million individuals and directed more than $2.7 billion in economic activity into disenfranchised communities – turning check-cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small-business dreamers into small-business owners, minimum-wage workers into living-wage consumers, and uncertain disaster victims into financially empowered disaster survivors. Project 5117 is our multi-year four-pronged approach to combating economic inequality that aims to improve financial literacy, increase business role models and business internships for youth in underserved communities, and stabilize the American dream by boosting FICO scores. Operation HOPE recently received its third consecutive four-star charity rating for fiscal management and commitment to transparency and accountability by the prestigious nonprofit evaluator Charity Navigator. For more information, visit www.OperationHOPE.org. Follow Operation HOPE on Twitter and Facebook @operationhope.

For More Information:

Jeanie Rittenberry                                           Roger Shirley

FirstBank                                                        MP&F Strategic Communications

jrittenberry@firstbankonline.com                   rshirley@mpf.com

(615) 313-8328                                               (615) 259-4000