A new Washington, D.C. bank is quickly climbing the financial institution ladder- and pulling black consumers up with it. Urban Trust Bank, which opened its headquarters branch at 14th and I streets NW in September, has nationwide plans focused on African-American customers. The federally chartered bank is owned by BET mogul Robert Johnson under his asset management and financial services firm, RLJ Companies. The bank’s mission is to “bring urban consumers into the financial mainstream, help them to become homeowners, to become entrepreneurs, and help them to create and maintain wealth in their neighborhoods.”
“Our plan is to establish a network of branches in urban areas to include communities that have limited access to banking facilities. We believe that this is a market that is underserved and we plan to deliver high quality products and services to these communities.” – Robert Johnson
Urban Trust Bank has $30 million in assets, offices in Washington and Orlando, and a federal charter under which it could expand to all 50 states. Johnson, who bought the bank a year ago, is talking with Wal-Mart about putting branches in stores around the country…’cause, you know, black people shop at Wal-Mart 
. But I won’t knock him for that- any good businessman knows his audience (and where they shop).
This new financial initiative is definitely not the first in the black community. The 1980’s saw a growth spurt for black businesses and back then Seaway National Bank of Chicago held the title of the nation’s largest black-owned commercial bank. After working there for a summer, I witnessed first hand how hard it was for a black bank to compete with larger financial institutions. But I am very proud of the progress Seaway has made (finally got on that internet banking bandwagon) and the support it has from local consumers- i.e. Common!
Currently, Carver Federal in New York, headed by Deborah Wright, is the nation’s largest publicly traded (NASDAQ) black-owned bank with $529.5 million in assets. They take deposits and lend back in the form of mortgage loans for purchase or refinance of residential, and commercial properties, and for construction or renovation of commercial property and residential housing developments. (It’s always good to know how your bank invests your money.)
Hopefully these banks will grow and dedicate their mission to wrapping their arms around minority communities. Low-income and minority communities are relatively untapped markets for banks, according to a study released last month by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Nearly 21% of all U.S. households do not have any relationship with banks, and countless other consumers have personal savings accounts but often resort to expensive payday loans, pawnshops and check-cashing services to get cash. YBPs, that’s called predatory lending, a soapbox I have a lot to say about but will save for another post…
Latimer Williams
Great job by Robert Johnson on creating a new avenue for African-Americans to build wealth and bank with their own. Mr. Johnson is the consumate businessman and is always looking for avenues to uplift his people as well as create a profitable business.
April 10, 2007 at 10:00 am
Martin Lindsey
Great post Kimberly. Glad to see Bob leveraging his funds for something beneficial to the populace.
And about those check cashing/payday loan shark shops! I try to keep the language clean but Single Ma did a post on those places yesterday or day before. She calls them FMLs. I’ll just leave you to guessing on that one. It’ll crack you up when you figure it out.
April 11, 2007 at 11:16 pm
OHSucker
Thanks for posting this! It’s very encouraging to see that we’re still committed to making strides in the world of finance in this day and age.
April 12, 2007 at 3:59 am
paydayloanadvocate
On Wednesday, October 14, 2008, the third and final U.S. Presidential Debate took place in Hempstead, New York. According to an average of national polls collected by CNN, Senator Barack Obama went into the debate as the majority’s favorite with an eight-point lead. Sen. John McCain of Arizona attempted to shred the young Illinois Senator’s policies, judgment and character. When Sen. Obama responded with a more critical stance regarding the economic policies of the past eight years, McCain was quick to point out that he was “not President Bush†and intends to enact an “across the board spending freeze,†take a hatchet to unnecessary programs and use a scalpel on the remaining once the dust settled. On the other hand, Obama offered a more conservative sound to the American people, stating he would “go through the federal budget page by page, line by line†in order to close programs that aren’t working as they should. Both presidential candidates proclaim to bring a better change to a broken America and a solution to our economy. However, would they leave or take consumers’ ability to access payday loans where and when it’s necessary? The answer is still uncovered. Although we believe to be living in “the land of the free,†interest groups, such as banks and credit unions, have a different opinion on our freedom to choose.
Post Courtesy of Personal Money Store
Professional Blogging Team
Feed Back: 1-866-641-3406
Home: http://personalmoneystore.com/NoFaxPaydayLoans….
Blog: http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/
October 21, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Lisa P
My friends, my countrymen, Americans, hear me out. I hope you all thought long and hard about whom to cast your vote for on Election Day. I’d sure you think everyone did, but I’m not so sure anymore. Most people think harder about whether or not they have to take out a payday advance. Case in point is this audio excerpt from the “Howard Stern Show,†reposted by BPM DJ’s in Pittsburgh, PA. Roving Reporter Sal went out to gather man-on-the-street interviews to see how many people supported Obama or McCain. The underlying motive was to see if they supported Obama it’s simply because he is black? The comedia magnae is that his polling point was Harlem, NYC. His trick is even more telling – he reverses the candidates’ positions, so that it would seem that Obama’s policies were actually Mc Cain’s, and McCain’s Obama’s. The people he spoke to preferred the actual platform of John McCain, and the policies that he attributed to McCain (which are actually Obama’s) were the ones nobody wanted anything to do with. I hope you all thought long and hard before voting. I sincerely hope, my fellow Americans that you did not just jump on the bandwagon.
http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2008/11... Loans
November 12, 2008 at 12:49 am
loan modification
Hopefully these banks will grow and dedicate their mission to wrapping their arms around minority communities. .. yes, let's hope for this. More power.
January 19, 2009 at 7:05 pm
loanmodification
that will be a good thing!perhaps african american has to make their own way to step up…
February 5, 2009 at 5:23 pm