Killer Mike's new Black-owned bank receives 'tens of thousands' of account requests in less than 24 hours

Authored by edition.cnn.com and submitted by MarkAndrewSkates

New York (CNN) 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.

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.

"I will say we're in the tens of thousands," Glover told CNN Business on Friday. "That number is increasing by the day."

PandFThrowaway on October 11st, 2020 at 02:11 UTC »

Banking is a good start but hopefully they help educate on investing as well. Lots of minorities and lower income in general don’t understand or don’t trust the market. Then they end up being diligent savers but hoarding cash their entire lives and basically getting nowhere.

Seevian on October 11st, 2020 at 01:23 UTC »

Before it was destroyed nearly a century ago, Glover said, a dollar spent in Tulsa's Greenwood district would circulate 36 times before leaving the community.

"Today, a dollar circulates for 20 days in the White community, but only six hours in the Black community," Render said in a written statement. Black Americans are twice as likely to be denied mortgage loans by traditional banks, but minority depository institutions have a better track record of lending to non-White individuals.

"This lack of fairness in the financial system is why we created Greenwood," Render added.

Interesting! I hope the venture is as successful as it looks to be from these early numbers

BBEKKS on October 11st, 2020 at 01:15 UTC »

This is awesome. Black and Latino minorities are consistently some of the most under-banked Americans, and having a bank with a black figurehead feels like it is much more than just symbolic.

Having a bank account is absolutely integral to saving, accessing credit, and generally increasing your financial security.

I don’t know who you are Killer Mike, but way to go!