With $65M In Assets, Redemption Bank Becomes First Black-Owned In The West

Salt Lake City, UT-based Holladay Bank & Trust — located in a community with a Black population of less than 3% — is now Redemption Bank, following its acquisition by Redemption Holding Co. (RHC).

Initially announced in 2023, the deal marks the first time a Black-led investment group has owned a bank in the Western U.S., according to The Associated Press. Redemption Holding Co. Chairman and CEO Ashley D. Bell, former White House policy advisor, cited the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023 for the acquisition delay.

“This process has undoubtedly taken longer than any of us anticipated,” Bell said. “However, we are grateful for the diligence of the staff at the FDIC, the leadership of the (American Bankers Association), and the renewed sense of urgency from the new administration this year, all of which helped bring everything together.”

Redemption Bank is now the first Black-owned bank in U.S. history in the Rocky Mountain region and the only one in the “Black-banking desert,” which refers to the geographic stretch from Houston to Los Angeles with no Black-owned banks. It is also the first Black-owned bank that isn’t headquartered in an economically vulnerable community.

Dr. Bernice A. King, the youngest daughter of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, aided in RHC’s efforts and will serve as Redemption’s vice president for corporate partnerships and community impact as well as an advisory board member, AFROTECH™ previously reported.

With approximately $65 million in assets, the bank will focus on commercial lending and building a dedicated team for small business loans. Bell told the AP that a fully digital platform will launch by the end of summer, allowing the bank to serve small businesses nationwide.

“We found an exceptional business environment in Utah, specifically in Holladay, along with a bank that has a clean balance sheet and a state with the highest average return on assets for banks in the country,” Bell said, as AP reported. “We are committed to competing in Utah to earn the business of customers from all backgrounds.”

Redemption Bank becomes the 24th Black-owned bank in the U.S., classified as a Minority Depository Institution (MDI).

Before Redemption, the most recent MDI was Adelphi Bank, launched in January 2023. Based in Columbus, OH, Adelphi is the state’s only Black-owned bank and was the first new Black-owned bank approved in the U.S. since 2000, as previously reported by AFROTECH™.

Co-founded by Chairman and CEO Jordan Miller and Vice Chairman Kevin Boyce, Adelphi aims to dismantle financial inequities and help customers build income without bias.

The bank offers certificates of deposits, checking and savings accounts, and personal loans, with plans to launch home mortgages in 2025. Financial literacy workshops are available, and for businesses, services also include commercial lending and cash management.

Adelphi’s success is evidenced by its tripling of assets to $68.2 million by the end of 2024, with leadership aiming to grow that total by another $50 million to $60 million by the end of 2025.

“We need that to get to profitability,” Miller said at the time, AFROTECH™ noted. “Every month, we get closer and closer to break-even.”