Boise, ID, April 9, 2025 – With Idaho just passing the 'Transparency in Financial Services Act,' Inspire and its allies are pressing for accountability through shareholder resolutions, including one filed at US Bank, to protect Americans’ access to financial services regardless of their beliefs.
De-banking, as it’s known, has become a hot-button issue that refers to the practice of financial institutions cutting off access to banking services for customers based on non-fiduciary reasons. Typically, a bank cancels or punishes a customer with little to no explanation, referring only to vague and imprecise terms of service policies like “reputational risk.” That uncertainty makes customers wonder whether they were victims of political or religious discrimination in banking.
Notable incidents include Signature Bank’s closure of former President Donald Trump’s accounts and similar cases impacting his family members. During his 2025 Davos speech, President Trump accused major banks like Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase of refusing services to conservative clients, stirring bipartisan interest in the issue. Even Senator Elizabeth Warren has indicated her willingness to work with Republican Senator Tim Scott and President Trump to address de-banking concerns at the federal level.
Inspire Investing and our coalition of faith-based and ESG-skeptic investors have been leading the charge against de-banking for years, engaging some of the largest financial institutions in the United States to address this growing problem.
Now, our coalition is turning its focus to U.S. Bank, demanding accountability and transparency. The upcoming U.S. Bank shareholder meeting on April 15th will be a critical moment in this battle, as our friends at American Conservative Values ETF (ACVF) have filed a resolution demanding that U.S. Bank assess and report on the risks associated with politicized de-banking.
The resolution urges U.S. Bank to ensure that customers are not denied services based on their political or religious beliefs, a critical step toward protecting freedom of thought and expression in America’s financial system.
This resolution was filed in response to a particularly troubling incident where U.S. Bank canceled the account of the Constitution Party of Idaho without warning or explanation, right in the middle of a busy election season. Tim Schwarzenberger, Portfolio Manager and Director of Corporate Engagement at Inspire sat down with Tony Ullrich, Chair of the Party to get more information on the incident. The full interview can be seen HERE.
Tony and the Idaho Constitution Party aren’t the first victims of de-banking, but they’d like to be the last. As Tony puts it, their voices—and their funds—should not have been silenced by arbitrary decisions made behind closed doors.
In 2024, Florida and Tennessee made significant moves against politicized de-banking by enacting legislative protections for citizens in the crosshairs of discriminatory decision-making by powerful financial institutions. Most recently, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed into law the 'Transparency in Financial Services Act.' This legislation seeks to combat the growing issue of financial institutions denying services to individuals and organizations based on their religion, politics, or other protected attributes.
We want to thank our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom for helping to draft this crucial legislation, and Governor Little for signing the Transparency in Financial Services Act into law. Special thanks to Tony Ullrich for sharing his story and sitting down with us for an interview, and our partners at American Conservative Values ETF for helping to file the shareholder resolution at U.S. Bank. We hope U.S. Bank will take this opportunity to change its policies and provide greater transparency.
Your support is crucial in helping us hold U.S. Bank accountable and protect freedom of thought and religious expression across America’s financial institutions. Visit Inspire Investing's website to sign our petition and take action. Together we can make a difference.
For more information about Idaho’s new law, read the official press release from Alliance Defending Freedom.
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