After observing a sheer lack of authenticity and commitment by financial services organizations when serving the LGBTQ community, Myles Meyers set out to make a difference. His efforts have given us a path toward Superbia Financial, which will become the very first credit union for the queer community.
What makes it tailor-made for LGBTQ people? Its members benefit through tailored products and services, more favorable rates and grants that are made regularly to LGBTQ-supportive organizations. Furthermore, Meyers — a veteran of the financial services industry — wants to eradicate the risk of discrimination LGBTQ people still encounter.
“Our families, lives and financial journeys are not necessarily the same as those of other communities,” Meyers tells Hornet, one of the LGBTQ organizations working with Superbia. “The products we need and how we are communicated to should reflect our community, using our values, as we determine.”
Similar to banks, credit unions accept deposits for savings and checking accounts, provide credit cards, make loans and offer other financial services, all while being regulated by laws and agencies to ensure members’ funds are safe and secure. Unlike banks, though, credit unions exist to serve their members. And they are owned by those members, as opposed to a limited number of individuals who profit personally from shareholding at banks. All profits from a credit union go back into serving its members.
The profits of Superbia will be put back into the credit union, meaning members are offered better saving and lending rates. And up to 30% of Superbia’s remaining annual profit will be directly awarded to LGBTQ organizations, causes and community needs.
What bank can say that?
“There are an estimated 8.5–10 million LGBTQ living in the United States,” Meyers says. “In 2015, the combined buying power of the community was estimated at $917 billion, yet poverty exists in the diverse LGBTQ community, at levels well above the national norms, with widespread discrimination persisting as more than one in four LGBTQ people have reported being treated unfairly simply because they are LGBTQ. It is time for a new way to combat discrimination and harness the economic and social power of our community to help the individuals and families within it.”
Meyers will host an event at Club Cumming in New York City on Saturday, March 24, to introduce Superbia and to kick off a campaign designed to demonstrate the existence and needs of the community to regulators who have the power to grant the charter and make Superbia a reality.