I am not sure what the conversation was in your household in regards to checking, savings and credit, but it wasn’t discussed at incredible length in my household growing up. I got a savings account when I was sixteen and went on to get a checking account when I got a little older. Somewhere along the line I got a credit card with a very high interest rate. I was told to be responsible with my money and save, save, save. There may have been some talk about credit cards, but I don’t remember any exact conversations. Now, don’t take this the wrong way, I am in no way saying anything bad about my parents. I just don’t think that money, credit and loans are a common conversation in black households. And school definitely didn’t teach on money, credit, loans or any such thing.
So here we are, 18 years old, without any real credit or knowledge of what to do financially as the adults we are now considered to be. What could go wrong? Well everything of course 😆. Oh and it did. Through it all, I learned about loans, credit scores, savings, checking and credit cards. Most of it lessons learned through failure. I may be better for it or maybe not. Who knows? I can’t go back, but I can make sure I don’t do any of that shit again.
When I saw advertisements about Greenwood Bank I was intrigued. It is a mobile banking platform to assist black and brown people with getting spending accounts, savings account and loans. Greenwood, named after the former Greenwood district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, unveiled its website back in October of 2020. There have been some delays in actually getting Greenwood going due to high demand and wanting to be able to handle all the anticipated customers. Based on the information shared on their website and the demand for Greenwood’s services, I know that this endeavor will be a successful one. I appreciate them taking the extra time to make sure they have all their ducks in a row. You can read more about Greenwood on their website,
https://bankgreenwood.com/
and in this article,
https://fortune.com/2021/12/01/killer-mike-andrew-young-greenwood-banking-app-black-communities-generational-wealth/.
If you are interested in starting an account with Greenwood, please be aware there is a waiting list. You can join the waiting list on their website.
Now onto the credit issues. I personally feel that when we become “adults” at the age of 18, we should have perfect credit. Or at least a 700 credit score. Then based on the decisions we make good or bad, we will go from there. But no, we are sent out with low credit scores and left to figure out how to raise them. Does that make any sense? I don’t think so. You can get a car, which helps raise your score, but you usually need a co-signer. You can get a credit card, which also raises your score, but most young adults don’t have a clue how to use them to boost their credit score. There is a good chance that you move out of your parent’s house and get your own place. Great, but paying rent only affects you when you don’t pay it. On time payments are not report to the credit bureaus. The only benefit to paying on time is not getting kicked out of your apartment or rental property.
Abbey Wemimo had an issue with this and decided to do something about it. Abbey is an immigrant from Nigeria and co-founded Esusu, a financial technology platform, with Samir Goel. Esusu reports rental data to the credit bureaus to help build tenant’s credit scores. I am not sure of exactly how it works, but I will definitely be using Esusu if I find myself renting again. Why not get credit for my rental payments, even if my credit is good? It can’t hurt. If you want to learn more or would like to sign up for Esusu, here is their website,
If you want to learn more about the co-founders, here is an article from nasdaq with Q & A,
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/faces-of-entrepreneurship%3A-samir-goel-abbey-wemimo-esusu-2021-01-15.
Hope you enjoyed these black facts. If this blog post, or any other previous posts, has resonates with you, please share it with someone else. Someone who you feel may benefit or enjoy this content. It would be greatly appreciated. Be well and whole. Much Love 🧡 💚