A Christian charity providing necessities to impoverished people has been ‘debanked‘ by the Bank of America due to its socially conservative views on same-sex relationships and abortion.
Indigenous Advance Ministries received a letter from the bank in April this year informing it of the impending closure of its account, just three months after it was opened. After the charity made repeated efforts to learn why the account would be closed, the bank sent another letter one month later informing the charity the decision was made due to its “risk profile no longer aligning with the bank’s risk tolerance,” despite the charity having $270,000 deposited in the account.
The bank further explained the decision pertained to the charity’s debt collection operations, yet could not highlight the part of its business policies that forbids offering an account for that reason.
The charity fears the account was closed “…because [the Bank of America] disagrees with our religious views,” with two board members adding: “Our mission and work, supporting Ugandan children and families through Indigenous Ugandan Ministries, has remained the same since we were founded and first opened our accounts with Bank of America.”
The group has launched legal proceedings against the bank, arguing that the arbitrary closure disrupted its business operations and received no explanation why the account was being closed.
The most infamous example of the increasingly common “debanking” trend remains that of Brexit leader Nigel Farage, who had his personal accounts closed due to his friendships with former President Donald Trump and Tennis star Novak Djokovic.
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