Compared to Asian American and Hispanic American institutions,
African American credit union members tend to have less money in
their accounts, and therefore those institutions have below-average
assets. African American institutions had an average member share
deposit of $5,646, compared to averages of $10,983 in Asian American
institutions and $6,959 in Hispanic American institutions, according to
the National Credit Union Administration MDI 2015 Annual Report to
Congress.
The movement can help people understand the
importance of keeping their dollars in their
community.
These numbers are what drive members of the coalition and bring them
together each year.
Any time a credit union does well, a community does well, said Jim
Nussle, head of the Credit Union National Association.
So it goes without saying that African Americans would want
institutions led by African Americans to succeed. “The greatest
significance [in MDIs] is ownership, and who has control of the
resources,” Nussle said. “Ownership stays with your community. You can
select your own board and those members help the [credit union]
members. It’s the original and safest way to do peer-to-peer lending.”
But small, community banking has struggled. Credit unions in general,
along with Black-owned banks, have been shrinking in number. Partly
that has to do with resource-rich big banks and, most recently, the
convenience of online financial lending institutions.
And that’s where #BankBlack comes in. In July alone over a million
dollars shifted to Black banking institutions—and therefore into Black
communities.