Rap Star, Media Mogul and Civil Rights Icon Bank on Fintech Change
The three founders describe why they’re starting a new type of banking platform.
Andrew Young has been a mayor, a U.S. representative, and the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Now he says he’s counting on a new digital banking platform, focused on Black and Latino communities, to address some of the systemic injustices he’s been fighting throughout his career. With rapper and activist Michael Render, better known as “Killer Mike,” and Bounce TV founder Ryan Glover, Young is helping to start Greenwood, named in honor of the Tulsa community known as the “Black Wall Street” before it was destroyed by a White mob in 1921.
Atlanta-based Greenwood is on track to open in January. Like other online banking platforms such as Chime and Aspiration, the bank will connect customers to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-insured savings and checking accounts and payment platforms. In addition, Greenwood will focus on offering business loans and financial counseling services to Black and Latino entrepreneurs. It will also help facilitate donations to causes such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.