America's First Gay Credit Union Gets Green Light From Michigan

[RKP5637]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/america-first-gay-credit-union-170720269.html

(Bloomberg) -- Do lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people need a bank of their own? Superbia Credit Union is about to find out.

Michigan on Monday approved a charter for the new financial institution designed for LGBT customers, clearing the way for online service to begin early in 2020.

Large swaths of corporate America now advertise their support for LGBT rights, and hundreds of companies have signed on to support federal and state laws to give equal protection to the community. A majority of Americans say they support gay marriage.

But it’s still legal to discriminate against LGBT consumers in most U.S. states, and research shows that gay couples face hurdles in banking regardless of geography. Same-sex couples are less likely to be approved for a loan, for example, and when they are, they pay more for the financing.

There’s a financial incentive to target LGBT customers more directly when offering banking services. The combined buying power of the U.S. lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adult population was estimated at $987 billion in a 2017 projection by Witeck Communications.

[Desert Dem]

1. Dallas

Used to have a gay credit union in the 80’s. Got absorbed after Reagan bank scandal.