National Bankers Association

The National Bankers Association (NBA) was created in 1927 in response to discriminatory practices of the American Bankers Association (ABA), which would not accept African Americans into membership. In 1926 R. R. Wright of Citizens Bank and Trust Company of Philadelphia and C. C. Spaulding of Mechanics and Farmers Bank of Durham, North Carolina, met with representatives of nineteen black-owned and -operated banks and savings-and-loan institutions. The group met at Pythias Hall in Philadelphia and discussed the need to form an organization to serve the common needs of black bankers.

In 1927 the group met in Durham to form the National Negro Bankers Association. The principal purposes of the NBA were to develop programs designed to strengthen the existing member banks, increase their number, and increase their economic impact on their communities. Over the years, the NBA has become more aligned with the "mainstream" banking system, including the change to its current name in 1948. Beginning in the 1960s NBA member banks were encouraged to become ABA members as well.

During this period the NBA also began to consult with various local, state, and federal officials. They sought financial assistance because of their relatively weak position in the banking world, and in 1968 the NBA was awarded a grant from the Economic Development Administration. Despite its financial difficulties, the NBA has continued to survive and to maintain its commitment to aid in the expansion of capital and management resources in the African-American community, as well as to provide assistance to other minority and women-owned financial institutions.

Bibliography

"The National Bankers Association: What's It All About?" Black Business Digest 2, no. 2 (December 1971): 31–32.

sasha thomas (1996)