Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority launches first ever ‘For Members Only’ credit union

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. members recently took part in the official opening of the organization’s new “For Members Only” (FMO) credit union. Prior to the 2023 Leadership Seminar, the event was held at the organization’s corporate headquarters in Chicago.The organization claimed on Instagram that “FMO is the first Black-owned, women-led, sorority-based digital banking financial institution in the history of the United States, and some of our Sisters even signed up on-site.”

Plans for the credit union were started by the 115-year-old sorority a few years ago, focusing on initiatives to provide economic and financial security for women of color. AKA Sorority’s international president and CEO, Anthony Reed, said, “You have to start doing things so folks know we know how to control our money. Everyone doesn’t understand the impact we make financially.”  

The AKA sorority’s members and their families will be served by FMO. Additionally, access to the credit union’s services will be provided to people who work for the organization and the credit union. The FMO Federal Credit Union executive director, Terri Bradford Eason, stated that “every member will be an owner of the credit union.” The National Credit Union Administration is responsible for charting, supervising, and insuring FMO.

The AKA sorority’s female members have been working tirelessly to build new businesses for the benefit of the group. The Gamma Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Society and the sorority’s foundation, Ivy Alliance Foundation, announced a partnership to convert the former St. Louis residence of the sorority’s founder, Ethel Hedgemon Lyle, into a museum.