Black sorority launches digital credit union

The nation’s oldest Black sorority is getting into the banking game.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. announced earlier this month the opening of “For Members Only Federal Credit Union,” which it said aims to help build generational wealth for Black women, promote social justice and uplift communities.

The National Credit Union Administration granted the Chicago-based financial services provider a charter on Feb. 3 and the sorority expects it to be fully operational by the end of the year.

The credit union will be entirely digital. The sorority has one of its biggest presences in Atlanta, home to several historically Black colleges and universities. Local leaders of the sorority, founded at Howard University in 1908, declined to share more details.

The credit union will offer AKA members and families credit and checking accounts, personal loans, direct deposits and debit cards, according to a news release.

“As the first Black-owned, woman-led, sorority-based (and) 100% digital financial institution, we are poised to deliver innovative financial solutions that drive economic growth for our members, chapters, families and employees of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority,” AKA International President Danette

Anthony Reed wrote in a letter to members.

The sorority is the oldest of four major Black sororities in the country and members have included Toni Morrison, Wanda Sykes, Coretta Scott King, physicist Katherine Johnson and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The announcement follows a trend of African Americans staking a claim in banking. An estimated 17% of Black households don’t have bank accounts compared to 3% of white households, FDIC said in 2020.