Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Glover.
Hi Ryan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am a proud graduate of Howard University, and I have more than 20 years of experience delivering products focused on the African American community. In 2011, I started Bounce TV, the first African American nationwide broadcast network, and served as president through six years of growth before the company was acquired for more than $302M by Scripps. Before founding BounceTV, I spent seven years as a television executive at Turner Broadcasting.
I also founded Noontime Records, a label responsible for more than a dozen Billboard No. 1 hits. I have been deeply involved in entrepreneurship within the Black community for much of my life, so founding a bank specifically for communities of color aligned perfectly with my past ventures and interests. About a year ago, I got my first real introduction to the world of digital banking when I realized that my 21-year-old son and my 17-year-old daughter had never asked me to take them to the bank to deposit money. What’s more, when I dug deeper, I noticed a disparity in banking options for my community – there were no real digital banking solutions that cater to Black and Latinx people. Occasionally you’ll see a traditional bank hire Black spokespeople in an attempt to attract our community to their branches, but it certainly wasn’t authentic. This inspired us to create a mobile banking platform that would value people of color as an asset and recognize the significant economic power of our community.
One of my co-founders and legendary civil rights icon Ambassador Andrew Young said something to me years ago that really stuck with me. He said he and Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t do sit-ins and marches to just eat sandwiches at the counters. They did those sit-ins to one day own the restaurant. That wisdom truly impacted me. We are embarking on the next chapter of the Civil Rights movement as we champion equal economic and financial opportunity. Ultimately, we want to provide fair access to capital for Black and Latinx people because, without the ability to efficiently save, invest and insure against risks, many families in our community struggle to translate the income they earn to genuine generational wealth. Greenwood will help members of these communities build wealth, empowering Black and Brown people to have economic opportunity. We hope Greenwood will enable a higher circulation of dollars in our community and provide greater the economic stability and opportunities for continued economic growth.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Historically, this endeavor has been a long time coming, and it certainly hasn’t been an easy road. Our neobank is inspired by the early 1900’s Greenwood District, where recirculation of Black wealth occurred all day, every day, and where Black businesses thrived. The Greenwood District emerged as an African American entrepreneur center. Craftsmen, merchants, architects, cobblers, attorneys, entertainers, artists, accountants, bankers and manufacturers all found a home (and a market) there. Historians estimate that a dollar circulated 36 times in the community and may remain in Greenwood for as long as a year. At a time when the entire state of Oklahoma only had two airports, six Black families in the Greenwood District-owned their own private planes. However, as the standard of living for Greenwood’s Black families grew, so did resentment in the surrounding white communities.
On May 31, 1921, the Greenwood District was attacked, looted and burned by white rioters. Approximately 300 people died, 35 blocks of the city were ruined, and more than 800 people were treated for injuries. Though it was destroyed, the Greenwood District remains an enduring symbol of the economic potential of community solidarity, and the Greenwood experience tells us that African Americans have the talent, the marketable skills and the entrepreneurial energy to compete anywhere in the world. In creating this new digital banking platform, we hope to live out the potential that our ancestors saw in the Black and Brown communities. Greenwood is a banking system developed by us, for us. It’s been a long road, but I believe all of America will appreciate the culture and proposition that we’re bringing to the marketplace.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Greenwood?
Greenwood plans to begin offering products this summer beginning with spending and savings accounts. Other features will include virtual debit cards, peer-to-peer transfers, mobile check deposits and fee-free ATM usage in more than 40,000 locations. Next, we will begin rolling out lending, credit and investment programs in 2022. In the meantime, and as we get everything up and running, we invite individuals and business owners to sign up for our waiting list at www.bankgreenwood.com. This way, you can stay up to date on Greenwood news and be the first to know when we begin offering different products.
Once launched, Greenwood has three key avenues to support Black and Latinx causes and businesses:
- For every customer sign-up, Greenwood will provide five free meals to a family in need.
- Every swipe of a Greenwood debit card will prompt a donation to UNCF for education, Goodr to feed the hungry, or NAACP to support civil rights.
- And every month, Greenwood will provide a $10,000 grant to a Black or Latinx small business owner that is a Greenwood customer.
Additionally, through our Minority Deposit Institution (MDI) Program, Greenwood will create a shared interchange pool of net new customers seeking loan products, which we can share with MDIs. By developing long-lasting relationships with MDIs in our community and feeding a funnel of referrals, we will help Black-owned institutions grow in a sustainable and scalable way, just as we do.
What does success mean to you?
I have experienced a great deal of success in my career as an entrepreneur and businessman. In 2011, I started Bounce TV, the first African American nationwide broadcast network, and served as president through six years of growth before the company was acquired for more than $302M by Scripps. Before founding BounceTV, I spent seven years as a television executive at Turner Broadcasting. I also founded Noontime Records, a label responsible for more than a dozen Billboard No. 1 hits. I look forward to the same kind of success with Greenwood, and we’re already on track. A mere five days after the October 8 announcement of the company, Greenwood received more than 100,000 sign-ups to the waiting list for Greenwood’s digital banking platform at www.bankgreenwood.com. And the list keeps growing with more than 550,000 sign-ups to date and growing. This pace illustrates the demand for a modern solution for minority banking and makes Greenwood one of the most successful launches in the history of the financial services industry. We also recently announced $40 million of Series A funding from six of the seven largest U.S. banks and the top two payment technology companies. Our mission has really resonated across the industry, and every investor that participated in our Series A round of financing I believe authentically and sincerely understands our mission and wants to support our cause. That is the greatest success of all.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@bankgreenwood.com.
- Website: www.bankgreenwood.com.
