10 Financial Institutions Black-Owned Businesses and Entrepreneurs Should Know

Access to financing remains one of the most important issues facing Black-owned businesses in America. Traditional banks remain an important part of the financial system, but entrepreneurs should also know about Black-owned banks, Minority Depository Institutions, Community Development Financial Institutions, credit unions and mission-driven lenders that were built, in many cases, specifically to serve communities historically underserved by mainstream finance.

The U.S. Treasury describes Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs, as mission-driven organizations providing financial services to low-income and underserved people and communities. Certified CDFIs now operate throughout all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Guam and Puerto Rico.

Black Wall Street Economy reviewed institutions based on their business lending programs, history of serving minority and underserved communities, SBA participation, availability of commercial financing and entrepreneur support.

The result is our list of 10 financial institutions Black entrepreneurs across America should know about.

1. Liberty Bank and Trust Company

At the top of the list is Liberty Bank and Trust Company, headquartered in New Orleans.

Founded in 1972, Liberty says it has grown to more than $1 billion in assets with branches across 11 states, making it the largest Black or African American-owned financial institution in the United States.

But its importance to entrepreneurs goes beyond its ownership.

Liberty offers business term loans, equipment financing, lines of credit, commercial real estate financing and SBA loans. Its commercial lending operation handles financing requests above $50,000, while its streamlined Lightning Loan program serves smaller financing needs.

Liberty is also an SBA Express lender and participates in both the SBA 7(a) and 504 programs.

For a Black entrepreneur looking for a financial institution capable of growing alongside the business, Liberty deserves serious consideration.

1. Citizens Trust Bank

Atlanta-based Citizens Trust Bank has been serving communities for generations and remains one of America's best-known Black-owned financial institutions.

For entrepreneurs, the bank offers small-business checking, business credit cards and commercial lending products. Its business banking platform is designed for companies at different stages of growth rather than limiting its services strictly to very small businesses.

Citizens Trust is particularly noteworthy because it provides both traditional banking and access to business financing within an institution historically tied to Black economic advancement.

Its roots in Atlanta also place it in one of the largest centers of Black entrepreneurship in the United States.

1. Carver Federal Savings Bank

Founded in Harlem in 1948, Carver Federal Savings Bank was created specifically because African American residents, businesses and institutions were being denied adequate access to mainstream financial services and business capital.

More than seven decades later, that mission remains part of the bank's identity. Carver says it reinvests more than 80 cents of every dollar deposited into local businesses, jobs and development.

Carver provides business and commercial lending as well as SBA financing.

Its SBA 7(a) program can finance working capital, business acquisitions, expansion, equipment, inventory, property renovation and certain refinancing, with loans potentially reaching $5 million. Its SBA 504 program can support real estate, construction and equipment projects.

For entrepreneurs operating in New York and the broader markets Carver serves, it remains one of the most historically significant Black financial institutions in America.

1. M&F Bank

North Carolina-based Mechanics and Farmers Bank, commonly known as M&F Bank, belongs on the radar of Black entrepreneurs looking for a banking relationship with deep historical connections to Black business development.

M&F has served Black communities for generations while expanding into commercial banking and SBA lending.

For business owners, an institution with experience navigating government-backed lending can be particularly valuable because SBA financing can sometimes provide longer repayment periods, lower equity requirements or more flexible structures than conventional financing.

The SBA says its loan programs can offer competitive terms, counseling and, depending on the loan, lower down payments and more flexible requirements than some traditional loans.

1. City First Bank

City First Bank is another major institution for entrepreneurs interested in combining business growth with community impact.

City First operates as a mission-oriented institution focused on communities that historically have not received their fair share of conventional investment.

That makes it especially relevant for businesses involving community development, commercial property, affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization and enterprises creating jobs in underserved communities.

Not every entrepreneur needs the biggest bank.

Some need a bank that understands why a project matters to the neighborhood surrounding it.

That distinction is important.

1. Lendistry

Lendistry represents a newer generation of mission-driven business lenders.

Rather than operating primarily as a traditional neighborhood bank, Lendistry has built its reputation around providing capital to small businesses that historically encounter difficulty accessing conventional financing.

For entrepreneurs who may not fit neatly inside a traditional bank's underwriting model, CDFIs and similar mission-driven institutions can provide another door into the financial system.

That does not mean underwriting disappears. Borrowers still need to demonstrate that their businesses can repay financing.

But the institution may have considerably more experience evaluating underserved businesses.

1. HOPE Credit Union and HOPE Enterprise Corporation

For entrepreneurs throughout the Deep South, HOPE Credit Union and HOPE Enterprise Corporation deserve attention.

HOPE has made business loans in economically distressed and underserved areas, including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

HOPE's financial records describe lending to small businesses that may otherwise have difficulty obtaining conventional credit, including financing for working capital and equipment.

That mission represents precisely why CDFIs can play such an important role in Black economic development.

A business declined by a major national bank should not automatically assume that financing is impossible.

Sometimes the business simply needs a lender operating under a different mission and underwriting philosophy.

1. Accion Opportunity Fund

Accion Opportunity Fund is one of the country's better-known nonprofit small-business lenders focusing on entrepreneurs who historically have not had equal access to affordable capital.

Its lending has specifically included entrepreneurs of color, immigrants, women and low-to-moderate-income business owners.

The organization's stated model combines business financing with business advice and support networks.

That combination matters.

A struggling entrepreneur sometimes needs more than money.

They may need assistance understanding cash flow, bookkeeping, credit, pricing, financial statements and how to become qualified for larger financing later.

1. Industrial Bank

Washington, D.C.-based Industrial Bank is another historic Black-owned financial institution that entrepreneurs should know.

For decades, institutions such as Industrial Bank have represented something larger than simply somewhere to deposit money.

They are part of the infrastructure created by Black Americans when much of the mainstream banking industry either excluded Black customers outright or severely restricted their access to credit.

Today, that history has evolved into modern business and commercial banking.

For Black consumers who repeatedly ask how depositing money into Black-owned institutions can help build Black economic infrastructure, banks such as Industrial Bank provide one answer.

Deposits create lending capacity.

Lending capacity creates businesses.

Businesses create jobs.

Jobs create household income.

Household income creates more deposits and investment.

That is how an economic ecosystem begins feeding itself.

1. A Local CDFI in Your Own Community

Our final choice is intentionally not one single institution.

It is the certified CDFI operating in your city or state that you may not even know exists.

The U.S. Treasury maintains a nationwide system of certified CDFIs specifically designed to serve underserved communities. These institutions include banks, credit unions, loan funds and other specialized lenders.

Some provide loans of only a few thousand dollars.

Others finance projects worth millions.

That makes searching for a local CDFI one of the first things an entrepreneur should do before concluding that financing is unavailable.

Don't Apply to Only One Bank

Perhaps the biggest mistake entrepreneurs can make is treating business financing like applying for a personal credit card.

A rejection from one lender does not mean the business cannot obtain financing.

Different lenders have different credit requirements, risk tolerances, industries they favor, geographic territories and loan programs.

The SBA itself operates Lender Match, which connects small businesses with participating SBA-approved lenders. According to the agency, more than 800 lenders participate across all 50 states and U.S. territories.

SBA's flagship 7(a) program can provide financing as high as $5 million, depending on the type of transaction and borrower qualifications.

Entrepreneurs should therefore think strategically.

A business seeking $25,000 in startup financing probably should not approach the financing market in exactly the same way as a company seeking $2 million to purchase commercial real estate.

Black-Owned Does Not Mean Automatic Approval

There is another important point.

Supporting Black-owned banks does not mean Black entrepreneurs automatically qualify for their loans.

They are still regulated financial institutions.

They must evaluate credit, revenue, debt, cash flow, collateral, repayment ability and risk.

Black ownership does not eliminate underwriting.

What these institutions can provide, however, is something equally valuable: experience working with communities and entrepreneurs who historically have encountered barriers to capital.

That difference can matter tremendously.

Build Relationships Before You Need the Money

Entrepreneurs also should reconsider when they begin talking to financial institutions.

The worst time to introduce yourself to a banker may be the day you desperately need $250,000.

Open accounts.

Meet commercial lenders.

Discuss expansion plans.

Keep financial records organized.

Build business credit.

Maintain accurate profit-and-loss statements.

Understand your balance sheet.

File taxes consistently.

Know exactly how much capital you need and what you intend to do with it.

The SBA advises borrowers to be prepared to explain the amount and use of financing they need and to have items such as business plans, financial projections and credit information ready when approaching lenders.

Capital usually follows preparation.

Banking Is Part of Building a Black Wall Street Economy

Black economic development cannot consist solely of encouraging people to start businesses.

Businesses require financial infrastructure.

They need checking accounts.

They need merchant processing.

They need credit.

They need working capital.

They need construction loans.

They need commercial mortgages.

They need acquisition financing.

And eventually, successful businesses need financing measured not in thousands of dollars but in millions.

That is why the conversation surrounding Black-owned banks and CDFIs matters.

The objective should not simply be to say, "Bank Black."

The larger objective should be to create a financial cycle in which Black households deposit money, financial institutions deploy capital, entrepreneurs build companies, companies create employment and wealth, and some of that wealth returns to institutions capable of financing the next generation of entrepreneurs.

That is the economic infrastructure behind the idea of a modern Black Wall Street.

And for entrepreneurs searching for capital today, the first lesson may be the simplest:

Know where the money is before you need it.