ING Direct, the Internet banking giant, which opened its first San Francisco location December 29, made very few home loans to African Americans or Hispanic borrowers in the Bay Area in 2010, according to data provided under the federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, or HMDA.

The HMDA data shows ING Direct originated 705 loans in the Bay Area that year, but provided only three to African-American borrowers and six to Hispanics. 

Statewide, the Internet bank made 2 percent of loans to Hispanics and less than 1 percent to African Americans -- in a state where 6 percent of residents are black and 37 percent are Latino.

The bank made 29 percent of its loans to Asian borrowers in the Bay Area, a majority of whom were in the South Bay. And 41 percent of the bank's loans in the region went to white borrowers.

In an e-mailed answer to questions, ING Direct spokeswoman Laura DiLello said the data reveals "an incomplete picture, because it does not account for any underwriting criteria." DiLello said the bank evaluates all potential borrowers on the same criteria and does not discriminate.

"At ING Direct, we test all data for compliance with fair lending laws every quarter and no disparate treatment has been found," she said.

Consumer advocates said the disparities were the result strategic decisions that have allowed ING Direct to avoid regulatory requirements under the Community Reinvestment Act, a 1977 law that requires banks to lend money to low- and moderate-income borrowers in metropolitan areas where they accept deposits. The new San Francisco location is a "cafe" and not a "branch" that accepts cash or check deposits.

Kevin Stein, associate director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, a non-profit that advocates for the rights of low-income borrowers, said ING Direct "performed poorly" in terms of racial diversity when compared to traditional banks like Bank of America and Wells Fargo, whose Bay Area loans are scrutinized under the Reinvestment Act.

"They have to consider whether their underwriting criteria is the right criteria," Stein said.

Click on the chart below to see the racial breakdown of ING Direct's home loans made in different parts of the Bay Area and the State of California from 2008 to 2010.