‘Killer Mike’ comments boost Citizen’s Trust

He called for African-Americans to move their money to black-owned banks.

“You can go to your bank tomorrow,” he said, “and say, ‘Until you as a corporation start to speak on our behalf, I want all my money, and I’m taking all my money to Citizen’s Trust.’ “

According to some news accounts, the Atlanta bank got more than 8,000 new deposit accounts in less than a week.

Diedra St. Julien, marketing director at Citizen’s Trust, said that figure was “elevated” although she also called the spike in interest “remarkable.” She declined to give a number of new accounts.

“We have seen an influx of new accounts and visits and applications, but there’s a big difference between applications and accounts,” she said.

The 95-year-old institution is one of the nation’s largest black-owned banks, with $404.5 million in assets. But its deposits — a key source of money to loan out — had been on a long-term decline until recently. The bank had $342.4 million in deposits at the end of March, down slightly from year-end 2011, but up more than 4 percent since dipping to $328.9 million last year.

Render’s call prompted a Twitter thank-you from Citizen’s Trust CEO Cynthia Day. “Together, we can change the conversation,” Day said in a tweet to the rapper.

St. Julien said deposit growth has been on the upswing in the “last few months” since the bank appointed a 13-member “Next Generation Advisory Board” of business leaders and professionals under age 40 to help it draw younger potential customers.