The Cliff Notes

I’ve been trying to #BankBlack for at least a few years now. I say trying because no one ever tells you how difficult it is. There aren’t that many black owned banks. The few that are around have very few branches and aren’t that modern. In addition to that, their websites aren’t as cutting edge and as feature rich as the leading banks are. It’s understandable that they are behind the curve. And I don’t mind being behind the curve if it means putting my money in an institution that would lend money to me without going through an obstacle course when I found that perfect house or had a perfect business plan that just required funding. It’s the ideal solution, right? You put your money there and the bank puts the money back into the community …In theory at least. I began my search for googling black banks and came across a site that had a listing of all of the black owned banks. I found one in Atlanta but the nearest branch wasn’t that close to me and when I tried to open an account online it wasn’t all that easy. So, I ended up going with OneUnited bank which is supposed to be the largest black bank in the country. Signing up for an account online was pretty easy. They didn’t have any local branches but they had an ATM agreement that allowed me to get cash from machines that weren’t too far away. I transferred some money into the account. Enough to escape the monthly service fee and any other miscellaneous fees. The debit card came in the mail and it was gorgeous but I had no use for it since my main account was with another national bank. After about a year of the money just sitting there I finally found a use for the debit card and tried to make a purchase. The card didn’t work. I know the card was activated because I had made a small transaction when I first got it just to see if it worked. Very annoying! I called the toll-free number on the back of the card which was an infinite loop of automated prompts. I could not get any one on the phone and then eventually gave up. I found out that they outsourced their call centers to some third party that is probably just taking their money and not serving their customers. Sigh! I’ve been transferring money out of the account and now the account is down to virtually nothing as I found the account having a lot of problems. I’m pretty sure those are growing pains of most black banks and I’m still willing to give them a shot. Especially since I have some plans in the future that will requiring borrowing money and I would love to deal with a black owned bank. I’m rambling.

But I say all of that to say, I believe I found a way that I can deal with a black bank that doesn’t have many branches, or a horrid website, or not many accessible ATMs, or a website that’s not worth a damn. This starts with a story so bear with me. A few weeks ago, I had to take my mom to the doctor. Upon leaving I was prompted to pay a co-pay for my mom. I was reaching for my wallet and noticed that my debit card was missing. Instantly it sent me into a panic. The receptionist who was handling the transaction scolded me. An older Indian woman she was with a full set of silver locks. “You use a debit card for transactions son?” “I would never, I tell my children never use a debit card. And even if they give you one give it back!” “I use my credit card and pay everything back before the bill comes.” I used another card to pay and when I realized that my wife had the card and I had gotten a chance to think things through I thought she might be on to something. This wasn’t the first time I had gotten this advice. I know of another young black couple that do this and most of their air travel is paid for with flight miles accumulated from a credit card that they pay all their bills with and pay right back. This was the first time the information sunk in. First, because my debit card can’t be defrauded if I don’t have one. And Second, because I would be building my credit by using my available balance and paying it right back. The percentage of credit used shouldn’t be changed since I’m paying it before the bill comes anyhow. I think I cracked the code. Recap: 1) Deposit my money into my #BankBlack account. 2) Pay all my mortgage, utilities, etc using X credit card. 3) Pay credit card using my banks bill pay so the payment is accepted before they issue the bill.

I’m going to try this… Here goes…