Debanking: When Big Banks Cancel Customers for Their Beliefs

Imagine your next interaction with a bank teller. You’re there to make a deposit, and you brought along your account information and proper identification to make sure the transaction goes off without a hitch.

But a question from the teller catches you off guard: “Sir, before we complete your transaction, we just need you to fill out this brief questionnaire. Just explain the criteria you use to vote in elections, and we’ll get this all wrapped up.”

You’d be shocked, and rightly so. Will the bank only grant you access to your own account if you plan to vote consistent with the bank’s values?

What is debanking?

“Debanking” occurs when a financial institution cancels a customer’s account—often abruptly and without meaningful explanation.

Banks have long closed accounts for legitimate reasons like fraud or illegal activity. But today, many large financial institutions are relying on vague concepts like “reputational risk” or “social risk” to justify cutting off customers engaged in entirely lawful activities. These risk categories can encompass everything from political advocacy to charitable work—giving banks sweeping discretion to decide who can participate in the financial system.

Banks often claim they are navigating complex regulations or managing legal exposure. But when customers are left in the dark—and given no meaningful opportunity to respond—those explanations fall short.

That’s what happened to Indigenous Advance Ministries. Based in Memphis, Tennessee, the charity serves widows and orphans in Uganda, helping to meet basic physical needs while striving to equip and strengthen Christians to share the Gospel with their fellow Ugandans.

In 2023, Bank of America sent Indigenous Advance a series of letters stating that it was closing the ministry’s deposit and credit card accounts within 30 days. The bank claimed that it no longer wanted to serve its “business type” and that Indigenous Advance exceeded the “bank’s risk tolerance.” The bank also sent a letter closing the account of a local church that occasionally supported Indigenous Advance.

The whole ordeal was a nightmare for Indigenous Advance leadership, who had to scramble to change accounts and drastically reduce funds for an upcoming trip. Worst of all, they were forced to delay paychecks to their hardworking employees in Uganda by a week. These people don’t live paycheck to paycheck, but sometimes meal to meal. Thankfully, this cancelation came at a time that didn’t deprive children of the chance to eat—which was a real possibility at the time.

Indigenous Advance leaders spent many frustrating hours on the phone and in person at the local Bank of America branch. But they were never given a specific reason for why the bank closed their accounts. The employees and branch manager would only repeat the letters that Bank of America had originally sent.

But the bank wasn’t as tight-lipped with the international press. That August, a reporter with the Daily Mail asked Bank of America for a comment. The bank sprang into action and came up with flimsy excuses—raising serious privacy questions along the way. None of these reasons hold water, and none even attempt to explain why the supporting church’s bank account was canceled.

Someone at Bank of America decided to close Indigenous Advance’s account, and the ministry was left to guess why.

Déjà vu all over again

That’s also what happened when JPMorgan Chase debanked the National Committee for Religious Freedom (NCRF) a year earlier. Led by former U.S. Ambassador Sam Brownback, NCRF exists to defend “religious freedom equally for all Americans and all their religious communities.”

Its National Advisory Board includes former members of Congress as well as former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, former Alliance Defending Freedom President & CEO Michael Farris, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, and Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, along with Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu religious freedom advocates.

Yet, despite the established credibility of NCRF—not to mention its legal status as a 501(c)(4) non-profit, which should have been enough on its own to qualify it to hold a bank account—the nation’s largest bank canceled the nonprofit’s newly created checking account without notice right after it opened in 2022.

Why? At first, no one at the bank could say.

After weeks of being stonewalled by various bank employees, NCRF was finally told that Chase “could potentially consider reopening the account” if NCRF took three actions: 1) disclose a list of donors who contributed more than 10 percent of its operating budget; 2) hand over a list of political candidates NCRF intended to support; and 3) divulge the criteria NCRF uses to decide who to support politically.

Of course, NCRF declined the offer. Chase later gave a series of weak and contradictory excuses for why it needed the information.

It’s hard to conceive of the experiences of Indigenous Advance and NCRF as anything other than debanking, a dangerous cocktail where politically obsessed cancel culture meets the financial services industry. And these cases are far from isolated incidents of viewpoint-based debanking.

The problem with “reputational risk”

At the heart of the debanking trend is the growing use of “reputational risk” as a justification for denying service.

But what does that mean?

In practice, it often means banks are making subjective judgments about which viewpoints, causes, or associations are acceptable—and which are not. Customers are rarely given clear answers. That lack of transparency creates fertile ground for abuse.

No American should have to wonder whether their bank will cancel them for supporting the “wrong” cause or holding the “wrong” views.

Debanking is a threat to more than your bank account. Access to banking is not a luxury—it’s a necessity. Without it, individuals can’t receive paychecks, businesses can’t operate, and nonprofits can’t serve their communities. Being debanked doesn’t just inconvenience—it can silence.

That’s why this issue goes far beyond dollars and cents. It’s about whether Americans remain free to live and work according to their beliefs without fear of financial punishment.

Pushing back against politicized debanking

Momentum is building to stop viewpoint-based debanking—and Alliance Defending Freedom is leading the effort.

We have worked alongside state leaders, financial institutions, and federal officials to restore fairness and accountability to the banking system. States like Tennessee and Idaho, and major banks like Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Charles Schwab, PNC Bank, East West, Truist, and Regions have taken steps to guard against discriminatory debanking with ADF’s help.

We have also worked directly with federal officials to secure protections nationwide. That effort led to a major step forward in August 2025, when President Donald Trump signed the executive order “Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans.”

The order directs regulators to eliminate vague “reputational risk” standards, ensure decisions are based on objective criteria, and investigate past instances of unlawful debanking. It makes clear that no American should lose access to financial services because of their religious beliefs, political views, or lawful activities.

We appreciate President Trump taking this issue seriously and empowering his administration to protect Americans from losing access to their own finances due to vague or weaponized policies.

But more work remains. These protections must be fully implemented—and strengthened—so that every American is treated fairly by the institutions they depend on.

A window of opportunity to stop debanking

No one should lose access to the financial system because of their beliefs.

Banks play a vital role in our economy. With that role comes responsibility. Institutions that benefit from public trust—and significant government support—should not pick winners and losers based on ideology.

“Too big to fail” should never mean “too big for accountability.”

At this pivotal moment, leaders in both the public and private sectors have an opportunity to reaffirm a simple principle: In America, your access to basic financial services should never depend on your viewpoint.

Find out more about what ADF is doing to counter Corporate America’s threats to free speech and religious liberty like debanking:

Viewpoint Diversity Score Website