The State
South Carolina’s only Black-owned bank, which traces its history to 1921 recently received a $3 million investment from one of the world’s largest banks.
Wells Fargo announced equity investments in Optus Bank of Columbia and along with five other Minority Depository Institutions nationally.
With the capital from Wells Fargo, Optus Bank can be more equipped to help local minority communities by offering more small business loans, mortgage loans, financial education and a larger deposit-taking capacity. This growth can help meet the bank’s mission to serve those previously unbanked, underbanked and historically underserved.
“This is a catalytic, transformational investment,” said Dominik Mjartan, president and CEO of Optus Bank. “Every loan, every investment we make with that capital hopefully gets paid back and gets revolved into another business, so this is not a one time impact.”