New York (CNN Business) An estimated $150 million in equity capital has been invested in Black-owned banks since George Floyd was murdered last year, according to the National Bankers Association, a trade group that represents 24 of the country's minority-owned financial institutions. Those funds have put the nation's Black banking community in a stronger position today than it was a year ago, according to the group's board Chairman Robert E. James II. "Our banks can now leverage that into $1.5 billion to serve minority communities," James told CNN Business. The cultural movement to support Black-owned banks along with other African American businesses received a major boost in the aftermath of Floyd's murder on May 25, 2020, as many corporate leaders and everyday Americans sought ways to address longstanding socioeconomic disparities between Black and White America. The FDIC says these banks are a small slice of the estimated $21 trillion US banking system, but they play an outsized role in serving Black and Brown communities.

Source: CNN June 09, 2021 15:22 UTC