In 2020, what did people look for in a bank?
Lessons learned from one year of helping people find banks
It’s been one year since we launched the Mighty Deposits platform, which enables anyone in the U.S. to look up what their bank or credit union does with their deposits and find banking options that align with their values.
2020 was a major year for community-oriented finance, from community banks becoming the heroes of PPP lending, to renewed interested in #BankBlack, to major developments in the fossil-fuel-free financing movement.
We believe that you deserve to know what your bank does with your money and that it should be easier to find and compare the thousands of bank and credit union options available. Our mission is to increase transparency within the banking industry so that customers can steer the industry to serve the priorities of the people who fund it.
Our audience is diverse, coming from all corners of the U.S., and includes activists, people who hadn’t given a second thought to their choice of bank, wealth managers, business owners, and everyone in between. Here’s what they wanted in a bank in 2020.
Ten most popular searches completed on Mighty, overall
Banks supporting Black American Equity (Black-owned/ Black-led banks)
Sustainable banks (B-Corp banks and Global Alliance for Banking on Values member banks)
Banks that invest in low-income communities and/or communities of color (Community Development Financial Institutions)
Banks focused on financing communities (Banks that put an above-average percentage of money back into communities --via loans for business, housing, farms, etc -- rather than the financial economy)
Credit unions supporting Black American Equity (Black Minority Depository Credit Unions)
Five most popular banking features searched
Five most popular deposit accounts searched
Checking accounts, savings accounts, and CDs
High-yield bank accounts
Checking accounts with no monthly fees
Money market accounts
Business accounts
Five most popular loans searched
Small business loans/SBA loans
Home mortgages
Credit cards
Construction loans
Auto loans
These searches above were just the starting point for people thinking about / learning about what their money in the bank could do.
Once on Mighty, people can see that various metrics of bank impact and conveniences available are intersectional. Banks building up Black communities are often Black-led, but also/or are certified CDFIs, which means they direct the majority of their loan financing to the benefit of low-income communities and communities of color. We offer suggestions of different ways to interpret popular causes to bank Black, or bank sustainably, or socially responsibly, in our Mighty Guides.
And impact alone is rarely enough to help someone start a new banking relationship. They need to see that the bank fits into their lives, from offering the technology and customer services needed, to competitive rates. The popular perception is that banks with few branches or a minimal social presence are perhaps on their way to going out of business. When in fact these community-centered organizations are thriving as a financing cornerstone of their community, offer better interest rates than the biggest banks, and offer equal protection for online and deposit security. They just don’t have Madison Avenue marketing budgets. People have no issue entrusting their donations to community-centric organizations. Yet they’ve been slower to trust their banking to them. This makes sense, given that everyone used to need a bank branch or ATM nearby. Now that money is going digital, banks with few branches are often just as convenient as banks with thousands of branches as people manage their money online. (The 30 and under crowd definitely asks Mighty: why do you list bank locations on your site? Why would I care about this?) And with Mighty providing transparency about what banks actually *do* with their customers' money, according to publicly-reported hard data, it's easier to navigate through potential bank greenwashing.
The biggest lesson we take away from 2020 is that there are increasing issues happening in the world — apart from business and personal finance management — that are causing people and businesses to reconsider their banking, and how it may be aiding or exacerbating societal issues. Whether people were driven to Mighty to find a Black bank in 2020, or an environmentally-friendly bank, or a good bank offering high-yield savings, in 2021, we anticipate people will increasingly be coming to Mighty and asking: show me banks that hit on a number of issues that are important to me. Because they’ll increasingly see that among thousands of banking options, they can get more in a banking relationship than they ever knew possible.
To browse all available impact causes, features, deposit accounts, and loans, visit our Find Banks tool or Find Credit Unions too. And if we can help you in your own journey to align your money with your values, write us and we’ll do our best to help.