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Search Bank of America closes accounts tied to Christian outreach ministry Log InSubscribe The Christian Post Skip to main content To enjoy our website, you'll need to enable JavaScript in your web browser. Please click here to learn how. SECTIONS * Home Page * Latest News * Featured * Opinion * Church & Ministries * U.S. * World * Politics * Entertainment * Living * Business * Sports * Education * Books * Podcast News * Topics MORE * Newsletters * Videos * Podcasts * CP Magazine * Events * Brand Solutions * CP Bookstore * Shopping * Job Board EditionCurrent Edition: EnglishEspañol中文Switch to Modern Version Go Search Log InSubscribe Thursday, Nov 23, 2023 Log InSubscribe RECOMMENDED slide 1 to 5 of 33 * VINEYARD PASTORS KNEW OF SON'S CHILD SEX ABUSE ALLEGATIONS BUT FAILED TO ACT, INVESTIGATION FINDS * EVANGELIST SHOT WHILE PREACHING SHOWS SIGNS OF RECOVERY BUT 'NOT OUT OF WOODS': PASTOR * PASTOR KILLED, WIFE KIDNAPPED BY ARMED BANDITS IN NIGERIA * MICROSOFT OFFICE PROFESSIONAL 2021 FOR WINDOWS - $49.99 Sponsored by The Christian Post Shop * ‘THANKSGIVING DAY’ SHOULD HAVE AN ‘S’ ON THE END * THANKSGIVING: IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS TO GOD * TO WHOM ARE YOU THANKFUL? * 7 INSIGHTS FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS AT THANKSGIVING * THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT AND WHAT 'CITY ON A HILL' MEANT * CHRISTIANS, OUR SOLIDARITY WITH THE JEWISH PEOPLE MUST BE ‘OBVIOUS’ * HOW TO HAVE OVERFLOW OF THANKSGIVING IN OUR LIVES * CHRISTIAN SYNCRETISM IS ALIVE AND WELL — AND THAT SHOULD TROUBLE US * AMERICAN INNOVATORS NEED DECISIVE BIPARTISAN SUPPORT ON THIS POLICY * WHAT PASTORS AND CHURCHES CAN LEGALLY DO DURING ELECTION SEASON * WHAT JOHN CALVIN GOT WRONG ABOUT THE RESTORATION OF THE KINGDOM TO ISRAEL * TARGET PUSHES AHEAD WITH WOKE HOLIDAY MERCH DESPITE FINANCIAL LOSSES * WHY SEX AND SCIENCE NEVER SATISFY THE SOUL * REVELATION 19: HOMESICK FOR HEAVEN, LESSONS ABOUT THE POWER OF PRAISE AND WORSHIP * WHY DO WE NEED THANKSGIVING? * THE PSYCHICS WILL NEVER SEE THIS COMING * MY JOURNEY OUT OF THE LGBT WORLD * THE HIJACKING OF ‘CHRIST IS KING’ * THIS THANKSGIVING, REMEMBERING FAMILIES FRACTURED BY TRANSGENDERISM * CONSULTING GOD FIRST IS THE ANTIDOTE TO REGRETTABLE DECISIONS * UNCOMFORTABLE THANKSGIVINGS HAVE TAUGHT ME TO SET THE TABLE WITH LOVE * 7 TIPS TO MAKE SERMON POINTS MORE MEMORABLE * F.L. COPELAND’S SUICIDE IS A PAINFUL GLIMPSE INTO THE INNER CONFLICT OF TRANS IDENTITY * 5 YEARS AGO JOHN CHAU BECAME A GOSPEL HERO * ONE VITAL QUESTION TO ASK YOUR CHILD'S TEACHER * DARWINIZING THE UNIVERSE: A THEORY THAT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING EXPLAINS NOTHING * THE BREAKING OF AMERICA: WHAT HURTS THE MOST * THE WOMAN WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THANKSGIVING * THANKSGIVING SERIES: PSALM 100 AND THE PROCLAMATION OF THANKSGIVING CP U.S. | Thursday, August 24, 2023 BANK OF AMERICA CLOSES ACCOUNTS TIED TO CHRISTIAN OUTREACH MINISTRY DEBT COLLECTION SERVICES, NOT RELIGIOUS BELIEFS, FUELED DECISION, BANK SAYS By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter A Bank of America branch in Austin, Texas, August 13, 2011. | iStock/robwilson39 Did Bank of America discriminate against a Tennessee ministry over its Christian views or was it simply a business matter? Steve Happ, board member and founder of Indigenous Advance, a Memphis-based charity that, along with Indigenous Advance Customer Center LLC, has partnered with and served indigenous people in Uganda since 2015 to provide basic needs and share the Gospel. Despite holding deposit and credit card accounts with Bank of America since its inception, Indigenous Advance received a series of letters in April in which the bank announced it was closing the group’s accounts within 30 days. According to the nonprofit legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the only explanation provided in the letters was that "upon review of [the] account(s) we have determined you're operating in a business type we have chosen not to service at Bank of America." A Message from The Christian Post Shop MICROSOFT OFFICE PROFESSIONAL 2021 FOR WINDOWS: LIFETIME LICENSE - ONLY $49.99 Get All Essential Microsoft Apps for Your Windows PC with This One-Time Purchase. Order Now The group’s deposit account had over $270,000, according to ADF. A partner entity, Indigenous Advance Customer Center, LLC, and a church operating at the group's address, Servants of Christ Community dba University House of Prayer (UHOP), received similar letters closing their accounts. Steve Happ (shaking hands on left), founder of Indigenous Advance Ministries in Uganda. | Courtesy of Indigenous Advance Ministries Happ said after experiencing “shock and confusion” upon receiving one of the letters that referenced Indigenous Advance’s “business type,” he reached out multiple times to Bank of America. “I asked them, ‘What type of business do you think we are?’ and they wouldn’t answer me,” he told The Christian Post via phone Wednesday. “They said, I’m sorry, we cannot give you that information.’” Far from being simply an inconvenience, Happ said Bank of America’s actions significantly disrupted the group’s outreach and impact. “When they closed the accounts, it meant that people who are dependent on us couldn't eat,” he said. “To us, it’s not that big of a deal if your paycheck is delayed for a day or two, but for Ugandans, they live day to day, trying to find where they’re going to find their next meal.” Happ said due to the bank’s actions, Indigenous Advance couldn’t pay its employees or provide their ministry partners with donations until Hap returned to the States to sort out the issue. In a statement shared with CP, a spokesperson for Bank of America said, “religious beliefs are not a factor in any account-closing decision,” but rather it was debt collection services provided by Indigenous Advance’s customer center that led to the account closures. Recommended Videos Powered by AnyClip 1 / 7 Mike Pence discusses his new book Read More 3.4K Video Player is loading. Play Video Unmute Duration 18:47 / Current Time 0:05 Advanced Settings Loaded: 3.54% 00:05 Remaining Time -18:42 FullscreenPauseUp Next This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. TextColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentBackgroundColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentWindowColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaque Font Size50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%Text Edge StyleNoneRaisedDepressedUniformDropshadowFont FamilyProportional Sans-SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional SerifMonospace SerifCasualScriptSmall Caps Reset restore all settings to the default valuesDone Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Share Settings Playback Speed Normal Video Quality Auto (270p) Replay the list TOP ARTICLES * Powered by AnyClip * Privacy Policy Mike Pence discusses his new book Mike Pence discusses his new book NOW PLAYING UP NEXT Candace Cameron Bure on keeping Christ in Christmas NOW PLAYING UP NEXT Blessing Offor challenges CCM to "get brave" and speak into culture NOW PLAYING UP NEXT Ed and Lisa Young open up about daughter's death, working through grief NOW PLAYING UP NEXT Mike Pence shares why he chooses to abide by the Billy Graham rule NOW PLAYING UP NEXT Keith Getty shares how hymns have transformed society NOW PLAYING UP NEXT Christian hip hop duo GRITS on artists who deconstruct NOW PLAYING UP NEXT The statement added: “Our U.S. division that serves small businesses doesn’t offer banking services to organizations that provide debt collection services for a variety of risk-related considerations and doesn’t serve small businesses operating outside the United States.” After a complaint was filed with the Tennessee attorney general’s office, it’s still unclear whether the state will open an investigation, but regardless of the outcome, ADF Senior Counsel and Senior Vice President for Corporate Engagement, Jeremy Tedesco, said Bank of America and other large banks are leveraging their own “risk tolerance” policies in order to “box out disfavored but legal business operations.” The practice, said Tedesco, started during the Obama administration under “Operation Chokepoint,” which sought to eliminate fraud in the U.S. banking system but was criticized by Republicans and other industry advocates before it was shut down in 2017 under the Trump DOJ. Tedesco said Operation Chokepoint used reputational risk as a “tool to get the federal regulators to push banks to push certain industries out of banking privileges and access to services” and may have opened the door to further “de-bank” Christians, conservatives and other aligned groups which “hold certain views the progressive Left doesn’t like. “So now it’s reputationally risky to serve Christian or other organizations that the Left disagrees with,” he added. He pointed to a separate incident last year where Chase Bank abruptly closed the bank account of the National Committee for Religious Freedom (NCRF), a faith-based nonprofit organization led by Sam Brownback, former U.S. Ambassador-At-Large for Religious Freedom. “This is exactly what happened with JP Morgan Chase, Samuel Brownback, and the same story’s playing out here with Indigenous Advance,” Tedesco said. Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post and the author of BACKWARDS DAD: a children's book for grownups. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com. Was this article helpful? Yes0 VoteNo Help keep The Christian Post free for everyone. By making a recurring donation or a one-time donation of any amount, you're helping to keep CP's articles free and accessible for everyone. $25/month$50/quarter$100/yearOne-timeNot this time We’re sorry to hear that. Hope you’ll give us another try and check out some other articles. Return to homepage. FREE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM UPDATES Join thousands of others to get the FREEDOM POST newsletter for free, sent twice a week from The Christian Post. 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