OneUnited Bank Partners with Visa to Launch One Transaction

OneUnited Bank, the largest Black-owned bank in the US, has announced its partnership with Visa to launch a new campaign for Black History Month.

The OneTransaction campaign is a new marketing initiative that will be focusing on closing the racial wealth disparity in Black communities. It will last through February and feature a virtual conference to be held on Juneteenth.

Chairman and CEO of OneUnited Bank Kevin Cohee, in a press statement, said it takes only one “strategic transaction” to close the racial wealth gap for each family.

“By encouraging our community to accomplish OneTransaction 2021, we can make financial literacy a core value of the Black community and create generational wealth.”

The bank said the goal of the campaign is to encourage black customers to commit to one transaction or financial goals which could range from creating an automatic savings account to creating an investment portfolio, paying for life insurance, mortgage payment, etc. These financial goals will be supported with strategies to achieve them.

A study from the Brookings Institution showed that the average net worth of a Black family is $17,150 compared to that of the average White family at $171,000. There exists a wide wealth gap between White families and Black families, and the OneTransaction Campaign founders believe that one strategic transaction is all that is needed to close the gap.

“Prioritizing financial educational and tailoring solutions to close the financial disparities is key to building generational wealth,” said Mary Ann Reilly, senior vice president and head of North America Marketing at Visa, in a press statement. “By partnering with OneUnited Bank, we are both working towards driving lasting systemic change and enabling individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive.”

The planned virtual conference will be held on June 19, the Juneteenth holiday. It will feature experts in both business and personal finance, including Washington Post personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary, the award-winning journalist and talks show host Karen Hunter, amongst many others.

The conference is free but requires all intending participants to make necessary reservations ahead of time.

In December 2020, Visa Equity launched the Visa Economic Empowerment Institute to encourage equitable global economic empowerment of businesses, individuals, and societies at large.  Also, in December, the Visa Foundation said it would provide about $5 million in grants to nonprofit initiatives committed to encouraging minority-owned small and midsized-businesses.

The OneTransaction campaign is Visa’s latest endeavor to fight racial and economic inequities.