Good Business or Discrimination? Bank of America Closes Accounts of Christian Ministry

According to the The Christian Post, BofA denied closing accounts due to religious beliefs. “Religious beliefs are not a factor in any account-closing decision,” said BofA. The bank further cited debt collection as its reasoning for closing the ministry’s accounts. As stated on its website, Indigenous Advance Ministries is “dedicated to pursuing the recovery of overdue invoices on behalf of our clients.”

Fox News co-anchor Sean Duffy mentioned his own experience of dealing with Bank of America’s leadership while serving in Congress. “I was able to deal with Bank of America—and its leadership. Very liberal,” Duffy said. “Regulators start putting pressure on banks, and they use ‘risk’ as a blanket [statement] to try to get banks to stop banking industries or ideas that they do not like.”

Reputational Risk Policies of Banks and Lending Institutions

“Americans are rightly fearing that they could lose their bank accounts because of their political or religious views,” Tedesco told Fox News.

In the past, “debanking” was reserved for when “banks limit financial services to businesses it assessed as having money laundering risks. But firms are increasingly being accused of closing accounts over reputational fears,” the Daily Mail explained.

The Daily Mail reported that Bank of America closed other accounts besides Indigenous Advance: “Associated accounts belonging to partner entity Indigenous Advance Customer Center and a church operating at the same address—Servants of Christ Community dba University House of Prayer—were also closed.”