As the tax bill successfully passed Congress today, several companies—including banks of all sizes—announced plans to increase employee compensation and charitable contributions as a result of the significant tax cut corporations will receive under the new law.
Fifth Third Bancorp announced that it will raise the hourly minimum wage to $15 for all employees, and will also pay out a one-time bonus of $1,000 to approximately 13,500 of its employees, senior managers and executives excluded. Wells Fargo also pledged to hike minimum wages to $15 per hour, and said it plans to target $400 million in philanthropic donations in 2018. And ABA Chairman Ken Burgess announced that his bank, FirstCapital Bank of Texas, a $1 billion institution headquartered in Midland, Texas, will pay a $500 bonus to 197 bank employees before the end of the year.
A handful of other corporations, including AT&T and Boeing, also announced similar compensation plans and planned charitable contributions as a result of tax reform. ABA will continue to highlight the ways in which banks are putting their tax savings to work to help their employees and local communities thrive.