Big Banks Discriminate Against Christians and Conservatives, New Report Finds
Many of America’s largest banking institutions routinely discriminate and “debank” Christians and conservatives, a new report from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) found.
“Today’s report provides irrefutable evidence that the nation’s largest banks have denied, debanked and discriminated against customers and lawful businesses,” said Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould.
“Debanking” is when a bank denies or discontinues individuals’ or organizations’ access to financial services and accounts based ostensibly on the perception of a real or perceived risk of doing business with the persons or entities.
The OOC issued its findings in the report, “Debanked: Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans,” after reviewing the activities of the nine largest, national banks in the United States: JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo Bank, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank, and BMO Bank.
The report found that rather than allowing access to financial services in a neutral and impartial way, America’s banks use their “reputation risk policies” to “disadvantage certain Americans based on their political, religious or social views.”
The OCC is an independent bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury that charters, regulates and supervises all national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign banks.
In preparing the report, the bureau reviewed almost 100,000 complaints to OCC-regulated banks and received around 50,000 documents comprised of approximately 420,000 pages from the banks regarding their policies, procedures and practices.
The report highlighted numerous concerning examples of biased debanking:
- In February 2021, a payment processor owned by one bank closed the account of a merchant that sold merchandise promoting President Trump and the Make America Great Again brand.
- In February 2023, one bank declined to provide financial services to a public education organization due to the organization’s political arm’s endorsement of solely Democrat candidates.
- One bank implemented a “social risk” policy that limited the sale of high-capacity magazines and firearms to individuals under the age of 21.
“This report highlights several, non-exhaustive examples of Americans that had accounts closed or that were otherwise denied financial services seemingly because of the perceived reputation risks associated with their constitutionally or statutorily protected beliefs, affiliations, or political views,” the report disclosed.
The bureau conducted its review in accordance with President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order 14331, “Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans,” which the president signed on August 7, 2025. The executive order directed the OCC to act to combat “politicized or unlawful debanking” in the United States.
“Big banks have discriminated against Christians and other mainstream conservatives specifically for their religious and political views,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel and Senior Vice President of the Counter-Censorship Task Force Jeremy Tedesco said in a statement.
ADF has represented Indigenous Advance Ministries, a Christian nonprofit ministry, that was debanked by Bank of America, which claimed it no longer wanted to serve the ministry’s “business type” and that it exceeded the “bank’s risk tolerance.” Indigenous Advance’s Ugandan employees’ paychecks were delayed because of Bank of America’s decision to cancel the nonprofit’s accounts.
“No one should be denied access to basic financial services because of their political or religious beliefs,” Tedesco added.
Thankfully, the bureau disclosed it has already taken action to protect fair and equal access to banking institutions, including eliminating considerations of “reputation risk” in bank examinations; clarifying its consideration of improper debanking in licensing applications; and improving its complaint intake and review processes.
The bureau disclosed it is “considering [further] actions to prevent banks from discriminating against customers or prospective customers on the basis of their political or religious beliefs and to address the problematic role of reputation risk in bank decision-making.”
“Americans should have access to financial services regardless of their beliefs, affiliations, or political views,” Comptroller Gould said. “Fair access to financial services is not a mantra – it is a mandate. The Trump Administration is committed to ending the weaponization of finance against hardworking Americans, once and for all.”
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