Summary of recent news articles on black-owned banks

Black-owned banks tend to serve communities with weaker repaying ability that have been hardest hit by the financial crisis. This has led to black bank losses, and as larger banks expand to take market share in black communities, black-owned banks need to develop new business models to balance social mission and profitability.

Recent black community economic empowerment efforts have encouraged many African Americans to bank at black-owned banks and patronize black-owned business. The question is how can black-owned banks make this movement sustainable?

Black Banking Challenge stimulates interest. By Billie Jordan, Los Angeles Wave. August 4, 2016.

“It is critical for the black community to utilize our $1.2 trillion in annual spending power to create jobs and build wealth in our community,” said Teri Williams, president and chief operating officer of OneUnited Bank. Killer Mike started the Balck Banking Challenge, and then other celebrities including Beyonce, Queen Latifah, Jesse Williams and Alicia Keys, quickly jumped on the bandwagon.

“Move Your Money” Campaign Steers Dollars to Black-Owned Banks. By Zenobia Jeffries, YES! Magazine. August 3, 2016.

In July, calls to “bank Black” generated nearly a million dollars of new deposits for Citizens Trust Bank in Georgia and Alabama. The only black-owned bank in Michigan, Frist Independence received more than 200 new deposits in July that totaled approximately $200,000. African American-owned banks are a tiny percentage of the U.S. banking industry, and they continue to struggle. The efforts to build African American-owned institutions was thought to be part of the historic civil rights movement.

Next battle for Black Lives Matter: Economic justice. By Tanzina Vega, CNN Money. August 2, 2016.

In a detailed proposal released Monday, a consortium of more than 50 civil rights groups laid out an ambitious plan to improve the financial lives of black Americans with a heavy emphasis on reparations, investing in black communities and economic justice. Part of the proposal called for federal money that is typically earmarked for policing and prisons to be reinvested in education, employment and other services in predominantly black communities.

1,000 turn out for Miami #BankBlack event. BY David J. Neal, Miami Herald. August 1, 2016

The black community’s economic empowerment movement came to Miami on Saturday, when about 1,000 turned out at OneUnited Bank and about 550 new bank accounts were opened in the three-hour event, following a similar event in Los Angeles that saw 150 to 200 new accounts opened in three hours.

'Black Dollars Matter': Bank-Ins May Be The Way to Empowerment. By Ko Bragg, NBC News. July 20, 2016

After the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, black activists nationwide organized boycotts of major banks and retailers, and called on African-Americans to patronize black-owned stores and banks. Such efforts have resulted in an uptick in black business, since black buying power was estimated to be $1.2 trillion in 2015, with potential to reach $1.4 trillion in 2020.

Black-owned banks get rush of new depositors. By Nathan Bomey, USA TODAY. July 17, 2016

Citizens Trust Bank in Atlanta and Unity National bank in Texas are experiencing a sudden surge of deposits, powered by a campaign aimed at bolstering black-owned financial institutions following the death of Alton Sterling and Philandro Castile. Rapper Killer Mike implored the black community to deploy "a portion" of its financial resources to make a difference.

African-American investors aim to rescue Seaway, a historic black-owned bank. By Steve Daniels, Crain's Chicago Business. July 30, 2016

Chicago's largest black-owned bank Seaway Bank & Trust is nearing completion of about a $15 million equity infusion. As of March 31, Seaway had suffered $16 million in total losses over the previous five quarters. Other large black-owned banks around the country have been successful in raising emergency capital in recent years, including Carver Federal Savings Bank in New York and Broadway Federal Bank in Los Angeles.

Is Chicago about to lose another black-owned bank? By Steve Daniels, Crain's Chicago Business. June 11, 2016

After Chicago lost two black-owned banks in recent years, Seaway, Chicago's largest black-owned bank and one of the biggest in the country is raising fresh capital. Another South Side bank catering to African-Americans Urban Partnership Bank, also is seeking more than $20 million in new equity. Seaway's and Urban Partnership Bank's problems, underscore just how hard it's been for low-income urban neighborhoods to recover from the financial crisis and recession.