“Crafted with Dr. King, impact banking is the concept that minority banks are mission-driven,” he says. “We’re looking for total racial integration—not only can we work in the same places, go to school, shop, but bank in the same place and be treated exactly the same.”

RHC’s first action will be acquiring and converting Holladay Bank and Trust into a minority depository institution. Although Utah’s Black community makes up only 2 percent of the population, Bell says the acceptance of the plans for Holladay Bank—to be branded outside the community as Redemption Bank, the first Black bank in the Rockies, has been overwhelming.

“Every leader in this state has a group of people that they’re fighting for, whether it’s better child care, addiction recovery or access to education,” he says. “There is an alignment of mission, of a commitment to improvement.”

Once the acquisition is completed, Redemption will become the 17th Black-owned bank in the United States.

While he hopes that Redemption will be an example for other non-minority banks in the U.S., he hasn’t stopped there.

“My kids will never walk into a bank, and their kids will never know there were even branches,” he says. “What we’re doing, not just at Redemption, but everywhere, we’re investing—we’re going to serve people where they live. Through Black-owned banks, we’re making banking accessible for everyone.”