Advocacy is One Thing, Action Another

A lot of lip-service is given to the concept of equality and freedom, but that's not the same as action. For some Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs), especially for Black/African-American MDIs, this year, the advocacy is changing into actual action.

The first de novo of 2023, 3½-Star Adelphi Bank, Columbus, OH, opened its doors for business on January 18th with Jordan Miller, Jr., formerly of 5-Star Fifth Third Bank, Cincinnati, OH, at the helm. The young bank’s mission: “to boost financial equity and build meaningful wealth for seamless and straightforward banking without inherent bias”. Adelphi Bank was required to raise a minimum of $17.670 million in capital and maintain a leverage capital ratio (CR) of 8%. At March 31, 2023, it had $23.195 million in total assets, $22.183 million in capital and a leverage CR of 112.9%.

Then in February, a Black-led investor group founded by Mr. Ashley Bell, announced plans to acquire a non-minority bank, namely, the $62 million asset 5-Star Holladay Bank & Trust, Salt Lake City, UT. Mr. Bell worked as an SBA regional Administrator under the Trump administration, and has since helped create the National Black Bank Foundation (NBBF) to help Black banks get access to financing. This is just one of his many endeavors.

Mr. Bell has found a willing and capable partner—Dr. Bernice A. King, daughter of the late, great, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Bernice King seems intent on honoring her father’s call to accelerate financial inclusion by supporting Black banks in what he called the “bank-in movement”.

Together, their momentum is palpable. With a little help from 4-Star Bank of America, Charlotte, NC, the NBBF now has the National Football League (NFL) on board as well. The NFL has agreed to borrow $78 million over the next three years from a select group of 16 minority and community development financial institutions (Adelphi Bank being one of them).

Bell and King show no signs of stopping. In fact, they seem to be speeding up. Another joint venture between the two is Ready Life, a fintech designed to help people of color get mortgages and other loans. Ready Life has attracted many heavy hitters as advisors, some that you may recognize, like Montel Williams and Kim Kardashian.

There is no mistaking the benefits that MDIs provide to their communities. Today, there are 500 Credit Unions boasting more than $65.5 billion in assets and serving 5.2 million members as well as 148 banks with combined assets of $337.7 billion. (That’s four more banks but six fewer credit unions than last year at this time.)

If you are interested in building a relationship with any of these banks or credit unions, we have listed them below with links to Bauer’s Star-Rating pages. If the institution has a website, you may access it directly from there as well. (Ready Life is a fintech, so it is not rated by Bauer, but we did provide a link on the name (above) if you’d like to check it out.

Federally-Insured MDIs as of March 31, 2023 are listed below:

C = Credit Union; B = Bank