June 26, 2026: A Black-owned bank in Utah has created a unique debit card to ensure single mothers are given every opportunity to thrive.
When Redemption Holding Co. completed the final acquisition of Holladay Bank & Trust last year, the goal was simple: ensure customers of every background have their financial needs met. The new Redemption Bank becomes only the 24th Black-owned bank currently in the U.S.
Opening the Doors
With support and leadership from Dr. Bernice A. King and former White House Policy Advisor and Small Business Administration Regional Administrator Ashley D. Bell, the bank holds many firsts.
According to the Associated Press, Redemption is the first Black-owned bank in the country “not physically located within an economically vulnerable community, the first in the Rockies, and the only one located in the Black-banking desert that stretches from Houston to Los Angeles.”
Bell (who serves as Redemption’s CEO and board chair) and King (serving as VP of corporate strategy) conceived of the bank’s latest program, the Bank King Card debit card, as a means to give intentional, tangible aid to some of the most vulnerable people within the community: single mothers.
Single Mothers Are Not Alone
“Economic opportunity must be practical, accessible and rooted in the needs of families,” King told Associated Press. “Bank King Card is an innovative way to support that work. It creates a practical opportunity for people to align their financial choices with their values while supporting mothers, children and families working toward long-term stability.”
The program’s start date holds significance as well. Launched on Juneteenth of this year, the card not only provides single mothers with wiggle room when they need it. It ensures that nonprofit organizations are getting the funding they need to support vulnerable families.
Redemption Bank will make fixed-amount donations to nonprofit organizations geared toward helping struggling families. Nonprofits whose main purpose is to provide financial opportunities, in particular, for single mothers living in government housing, are guaranteed the support Redemption Bank is offering.
Organizations like the Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund (which launched their In Her Hands initiative in 2021 to give no-strings-attached aid to mothers in Georgia) and Ohio Mothers Trust (which managed to ensure $500 a month for a year for 32 single mothers in Columbus, OH) are prime candidates for this funding. In fact, according to an article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund is on track to becoming one of Redemption’s first beneficiaries.
For single mothers, the monies could tip the scale from poverty to a means to become financially independent.
“Bank King Card represents a new regenerative banking model,” Bell said. “…investing in mothers who are a few hopeful dollars away from breaking out of poverty, and opening up America’s vaults of opportunity that have been closed to too many for too long.”
The Bright Side
Single mothers are an often overlooked demographic of people in serious need. Through the efforts of Dr. King and Ashley Bell, these vulnerable communities have a chance to truly thrive in an increasingly difficult economic landscape. What this opportunity offers is a real-world example of how we can use the tools at our disposal to impart actual change.
Through this program, people like King and Bell, and nonprofits who participate are truly giving single mothers, and all vulnerable communities, a true redemption arc.
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