In a time when financial stress is weighing heavily on many Americans, OneUnited Bank is stepping in to help, offering more than just traditional banking. As the largest Black-owned bank in the country, OneUnited is on a mission to empower communities through financial education and credit-building tools, according to President and CEO Teri Williams, who recently joined Inside South Florida to talk money, homeownership, and hope.
“I’m most proud of our focus on financial literacy,” said Williams. “We’ve been committed to this for over 30 years, and now more people are starting to really get it.”
A recent study highlights the stakes: Black adults answered only 38% of financial literacy questions correctly, compared to 55% of white adults. Williams says the disparity stems in part from a lack of early education:
“When I was growing up, they taught money management and home economics in school. But over time, we’ve really forgotten to teach financial literacy in schools,” she said. “It’s hard to play the money game if you don’t know the rules and most of us don’t. So we end up making mistakes without even realizing that we can still come back, even if we’ve messed up.”
In response, OneUnited has launched a new partnership with financial wellness company Esusu a game-changer for renters looking to boost their credit. The service reports rent payments to major credit bureaus (but only when payments are made on time), helping users increase their credit score by an average of 45 points. It can even retroactively report up to two years of rent payments.
“We have a lot of people in our community who are renting, and sometimes they’re renting because their credit is poor, so they can’t qualify for a mortgage. What Esusu does is report your rent payments to the credit bureaus. They’ve found that people who participate in their program can increase their credit score by an average of 45 points just by reporting their rent.,” Williams emphasized.
The bank is also running a youth financial literacy contest, accessible via their website, where families can download Williams’ book “I Got Bank”, designed to teach kids the money basics many adults never learned.
To learn more about the Esusu partnership or enter the youth contest, visit OneUnited.com/Esusu and OneUnited.com/Book.
