Circle and Citizens Trust Bank Partner on Digital Financial Inclusion

Citizens Trust Bank will hold $65 million in USD Coin (USDC) cash reserves as part of a partnership to foster digital financial inclusion.

Circle Internet Financial, the issuer of USDC, said this partnership with the minority-owned bank is part of its commitment to allocate a share of these dollar-denominated reserves to minority-owned depository institutions (MDIs) and community banks, according to a Friday (Feb. 24) press release.

“For the future of finance and banking to be more inclusive than the past, historically marginalized communities cannot merely be beneficiaries of financial services, they must also be protagonists,” Circle Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy Dante Disparte said in the release. “Citizens Trust Bank is a phenomenal leader in this space.”

Beyond supporting Citizens Trust Bank in its drive to top $1 billion in assets, this collaboration between the two organizations will also include initiatives around financial inclusion and digital financial literacy in the greater Atlanta area, according to the press release.

This summer, with the help of a $100,000 seed grant from Circle, they will launch programming around those issues in local schools and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), the release said.

“The opportunity to maintain a portion of Circle’s growing USDC reserves means we are strengthening our balance sheet and becoming a key part of fast-growing new markets,” Citizens Trust Bank President and CEO Cynthia N. Day said in the release. “This will support our commitment to providing access to capital for small businesses, improve the financial ecosystem through financial inclusion, build wealth and pave the way for stronger communities.”

This initiative follows efforts by other organizations to collaborate with minority-owned banks.

On Thursday (Feb. 23), Visa said it reached its commitment of directing $100 million in deposits in MDIs as part of Visa MDI Accelerate, a multi-year program launched in 2022 that provides deposits, and digital tools and solutions to MDIs. Over time, Visa’s $100 million in deposits will help enable up to $1 billion in lending for Black, Hispanic, Asian and Native American borrowers across the country.

In October, Bank of America announced it was adding $100 million in low-cost deposits to MDIs, doubling its existing $100 million in deposits in MDIs.

With these low-cost deposits, MDIs can expand their lending capacity and other banking services in minority and low- to moderate-income communities, the bank said at the time.