Despite an overwhelmingly negative reaction online, OneUnited Bank's controversial Harriet Tubman card is a hit with customers. TMZ reports that the card, which has been likened to Tubman doing the Black Panther "Wakanda forever" salute, garnered massive interest for the black-owned bank.
The debit card has seen OneUnited receive 10 times its usual volume of account sign-ups, with a large number of customers requesting to switch to the new design. It's been less than a week since the bank debuted the card, but it saw a similiar increase in interest when it partnered with Killer Mike for the #BankBlack movement in 2016.
In response to all the criticism OneUnited received, the bank also released a statement debunking the idea she's pulling the Wakandan salute. "It is the actual American Sign Language gesture for love. Wakanda also got it from that," said OneUnited's president and COO Teri Williams. "It really does all start with black love, which is a good place to start on Valentine's Day. It's important to love ourselves, love our history and recognize we're much further along in our journey than people would like us to believe."
Additionally, Williams said visits to the site "increased three-fold" upon announcement of the card. She also said the bank is "unapologetically black," pushing back against people on Twitter's assumptions that the move was decided by a white executive.
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