New Black-owned bank in Ohio seeks to make lending more equitable

Ohio is now home to a lone Black-owned bank looking to make lending more equitable there.

Adelphi Bank, which started operations in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood of Columbus on Monday, aims to improve financing equity for the Black community. According to 10TV News, a LendingTree analysis found that Black homeowners receive loan denials twice as frequently as the general population or 18 percent of the time.

Adelphi tapped Jordan Miller, a former Huntington Bank executive and Fifth-Third Bank’s president and chief executive officer for its Central Ohio area, to serve as chairman. He said their research shows that assistance is most needed in the pre-application stage of the loan procedure.

He said prospective borrowers should approach lenders “prepared, understanding what their credit score is rather than just going in and getting denied,” according to 10TV. “We can help you get these things cleaned up. So, you can get the house; you can start your business or whatever it is.”

The Columbus Dispatch reported that Federal Reserve data shows average Black and Hispanic households earn approximately half as much as average white households and possess only 15 to 20 percent as much net wealth. The proportion of Black and Hispanic households without a bank account is significantly greater than white ones.

According to 10TV, Miller said Adelphi has big aspirations to develop beyond being the first Black-owned bank in Ohio and Franklin County, citing the “digital capability to expand,” grow and reach people outside of the area.

Adelphi Bank – steps away from the building that housed Adelphi Loan and Savings Co., Ohio’s first Black-owned bank, which opened in 1921 and closed during the Great Depression – is one of a few listed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as being owned and run by Black people. Data shows 21 Black-owned financial institutions as of Dec. 31, 2022, down 43 percent since 2001.

Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce, Adelphi’s co-founder, said he talked with a friend about opening a bank after protests over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.

“My business partner called me and he asked, ‘Why are we still going through this? And why are these types of things still happening in America?'” Boyce recalled, 10TV reported. “A lot of it is rooted in racism and poverty, and specifically the wealth gap.”

Boyce noted a need for more financial institutions focused on building wealth. “And [my friend] said, ‘Why don’t you start a bank?'”

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