Digital Financial Inclusion With Circle And Citizens Trust Bank
As part of a partnership to help more people use digital money, Citizens Trust Bank will hold $65 million in USD Coin (USDC) cash reserves.
Circle Internet Financial, which issued USDC, said in a press release on Friday (Feb. 24) that this partnership with the minority-owned bank is part of its plan to give some of these dollar-denominated reserves to minority-owned depository institutions (MDIs) and community banks.
“For the future of finance and banking to be more inclusive than the past, historically marginalized communities cannot merely be beneficiaries of financial services, they must also be protagonists,” Circle Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy Dante Disparte said in the release. “Citizens Trust Bank is a phenomenal leader in this space.”
According to a press release, the two organizations will work together to help Citizens Trust Bank reach its goal of having more than $1 billion in assets and to help people in the greater Atlanta area learn about money and how it works online.
The release said that they will start programs about these issues in local schools and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) this summer with the help of a $100,000 seed grant from Circle.
“The opportunity to maintain a portion of Circle’s growing USDC reserves means we are strengthening our balance sheet and becoming a key part of fast-growing new markets,” Citizens Trust Bank President and CEO Cynthia N. Day said in the release. “This will support our commitment to providing access to capital for small businesses, improve the financial ecosystem through financial inclusion, build wealth and pave the way for stronger communities.”
This plan comes after other groups tried to work together with banks owned by people of color.
Visa started a multi-year program on Thursday (Feb. 23) to fight economic inequality and give minority-led banks and communities of color across the United States more access to and opportunities.
Visa will put up to $100 million into this Minority Depository Institutions Accelerate program by putting money into MDIs.
Bank of America said in October that it would add $100 million in low-cost deposits to MDIs. This would double the $100 million it already had in MDI deposits.
With these low-cost deposits, the bank said at the time, MDIs can increase their lending and other banking services in minority and low- to moderate-income communities.
