There are just 21 Black-owned banks in the United States. The newest one is in Columbus – it’s the first one in the country in two decades, and the only one in Ohio.
The CEO of Adelphi Bank is Jordan Miller, who previously worked at Huntington Bank and was CEO of Fifth Third Bank’s central Ohio region.
Miller said the bank, which raised $24 million in startup capital, can help address the racial wealth gap – starting with the nearly one-fifth of Black homebuyers who are rejected for mortgages.
“Where there are Black-owned banks, Black people get mortgages. Black business owners get financing for those supplier diversity or supply chain issues that they have. People get a conversation with the professionals. They get education for their children," Miller said. "So that’s why it’s significant.”
Adelphi’s board and executive leadership team are 95% Black.
The bank is named for the Adelphi Loans and Savings Company, founded in 1921 on Columbus’ near east side as central Ohio’s only Black-owned bank. Like many other financial institutions, it collapsed in the Great Depression.