‘Killer Mike’ comments boost Citizen’s Trust

A nearly century-old, black-owned bank in Atlanta has seen a flash flood of new customers after a celebrity rapper called for African-Americans to pair their protests with their dollars.

The spike in new accounts and inquiries at Atlanta’s Citizen’s Trust came after Atlanta rapper Michael Render, better known as Killer Mike, angrily reacted to fatal police shootings of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana.

“I’m angry. I’m hurt. I’m disgusted. I’m ashamed to be a part of this country,” Render told Atlanta’s Hot 107.9 FM radio, in an interview picked up by online news site HipHopWired, after the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.

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.