Citizen’s Trust Bank, a historic Black-owned bank in Atlanta, GA, has seen a huge spike in business. In just five days, 8,000 people have submitted applications to open an account.
It all started with the recently renewed concern about police brutality when Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, two African American men, where killed by white police officers. This spiked the nationwide #BankBlack hashtag on social media, endorsed by celebrities and other influencers like Solange and Killer Mike. Their message was to encourage Black people to put their money into black-owned banks.
“It’s a tremendous propel forward for the bank and the future of the bank and bringing new relevance to a bank that’s been here for 95 years. And, it’s a statement about what the next 95 years will look like,” said Jay Bailey, chairman of the bank’s Next Generation Advisory Board.
The goal is to become the first black-owned billion dollar bank
He revealed that the bank had $328.8 million in deposits as of the end of 2015, but said that their goal is to make history by becoming the first black-owned billion dollar bank in the country. He a more noticeable change in regard to injustice comes when black people start to invest back into their communities.
Time to come home
“I’ve been telling people that it’s time to come home,” Bailey said. “Rallies are great and they’re necessary. Protesting is great and it’s necessary but what will sustain and grow from here is our dollar and galvanizing our dollar.”
Citizen’s Trust Bank, which was founded in 1921, has reportedly survived several economic hardships, but this new trend will definitely keep them afloat for years to come.
Executive Vice President Fredrick Daniel, commented, “Citizen’s Trust provides a financial foundation for our community and that really helps us to put in place the businesses that we wanna see that we don’t see in our communities.”
The numbers don't lie
According to the Federal Reserve, aside from Citizen’s Trust Bank, there are only 22 other Black-owned banks in the United States, including credit unions. There are also only 10 Hispanic-owned banks, and only 18 banks owned by Native Americans. Amongst all the minority groups, Asians own the most with 61 Asian/ Pacific Islander-owned banks, and white women own only the least with just 6 women-owned banks. All of the thousands of other banks in the country are owned by white men!
For more details about Citizen's Trust Bank, visit www.ctbconnect.com