As Black-owned financial institutions have begun to crop up around the country over the years, the Western United States has continued to be left bone dry—that is, until Redemption Bank launched.
With Bernice King, the youngest child of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as the vice president of corporate strategy, and roughly $65 million in assets, Redemption Bank just became the first Black-led investment group-owned bank in the Western United States, AP News reported.
Redemption Holdings Co. officially launched on June 10, following the successful acquisition of Utah-based Holladay Bank & Trust. While the bank has plans to service individuals throughout the country, it will remain based in Salt Lake City. King will also serve on the company’s advisory board.
“I know deeply what it means for a nation to respond in times of crisis and how communities come together to realize that what’s needed, sometimes, has never been done,” King said in a release, according to the Desert News. “Redemption will help deliver on my father’s dream of economic equality, and we are honored to be ushering in needed change at such a pivotal time.”
Led by former White House Policy Advisor and Small Business Administration Regional Administrator, Ashley Bell, Redemption Bank intends to focus mainly on commercial lending and establishing a dedicated small business loan team. Bell told the Associated Press that the company is gearing up to release a fully digital platform by the end of this summer to better service small businesses around the country.
The acquisition of Holladay Bank that made way for Redemption Bank was made possible through an array of early investors including Ally Financial Inc., Central Bancorporation, Rick Durham and Christena Huntsman Durham, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, the Robert H. & Katharine B. Garff Foundation, the Huntsman Family Foundation, Peter and Brynn Huntsman, the Larry H. & Gail…
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