Netflix will deposit $100 million in Black-owned banks

Marketplace
Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Streaming giant Netflix is depositing $100 million of its cash on hand in Black-owned banks. The company says Black-owned financial institutions have a harder time accessing capital and that the move should help the banks lend more to their communities. There are only 21 Black-owned banks in the United States, and they’re predominantly located in communities of color. Michael Neal, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute, said they don’t have the deposits that other banks do. At the Black-owned Carver State Bank in Savannah, Georgia, Robert James II said more deposits could help his bank make more loans for affordable housing. “We would be able to extend more small business capital,” James said. “We would be able to extend more credit to some of the nonprofits that we serve.”