Posted on October 14, 2020

Killer Mike’s New Black-Owned Bank Receives ‘Tens of Thousands’ of Account Requests in Less Than 24 Hours

Chauncey Alcorn, CNN, October 11, 2020

A new majority Black and Latinx-owned and operated digital bank hopes to make supporting Black-owned banks and businesses a little easier for consumers.

Greenwood was created by Bounce TV founder Ryan Glover and his close friend, rapper-activist Michael “Killer Mike” Render. The leadership team at Greenwood, which includes former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, unveiled their new platform on Thursday after raising more than $3 million in seed funding in June.

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While the bank doesn’t open until January, the company launched its website on Thursday and there is already a waiting list for those who want to open a Greenwood account.

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Like its competitors Chime, Aspiration, Money Lion and Vero, Greenwood is a digital bank whose financial services — including checking and savings accounts, mobile deposits and peer-to-peer transfers — are fulfilled almost entirely online. The bank offers a global ATM network, Apple and Android Pay services, and two-day advances on paychecks for customers who sign up for direct deposit.

Unlike its peers, however, Greenwood’s target audiences are Black and Latinx communities and anyone else who wants to support Black-owned businesses. Glover says the bank will specialize in financing Black and Latinx entrepreneurs who typically have a harder time securing loans from mainstream commercial banks.

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Greenwood is named after the former Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, an early 20th century African-American business community that was so prosperous it was nicknamed Black Wall Street. A mob of White Americans destroyed the Greenwood district during the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.

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Glover points out that Americans have been banking online almost exclusively at higher rates in recent years. It’s a trend major commercial banks have been slow to embrace and a sector Glover says hasn’t done much to reach out to minorities.

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In 2017, about 17% of Black Americans didn’t have a bank account, compared to just 3% of White Americans, according to an FDIC study.

There are only 23 minority-owned banks in the US today. {snip}

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