Jun 19, 2014

The National Black Church Initiative has partnered with online trust platform TrustEgg. Mission: get African American parents focused on saving up for their kids. Leaders of the National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), a coalition of 34,000 churches, gathered at the Canaan Baptist Church of Christ in Harlem on Thursday to kick off an ambitious program to advance the financial stability of their community. The group has partnered with TrustEgg, an online trust platform, and is urging its 15.7 million church members to open up TrustEgg accounts for their children. The goal is 1 million accounts. "This will be a wonderful opportunity to focus our parents on putting aside money for their kids," NBCI's president, Rev. Anthony Evans, told the Daily News. The event organizers chose to launch on Juneteenth, the June 19th holiday commemorating the abolition of slavery. The TrustEgg partnership is NBCI's second large scale effort to rally its members and promote financial health in the wake of the financial crisis. In 2010, the group asked its members to put away one year's worth of salary over seven years. Now NBCI is shifting its focus to creating early savers. While African Americans have made financial strides since the recession, they still face serious challenges. This will be a wonderful opportunity to focus our parents on putting aside money for their kids. According to Prudential's 2013 African American Financial Experience study, Blacks are significantly more likely to have some type of debt (94%) compared with the general population (82%). "The Black community has suffered disproportionately in mortgage crisis," Evans said. The partnership with NBCI represents a growth opportunity for TrustEgg, a San Diego-based tech startup. The company allows parents to set up trusts online. There is no fee and there are no minimums. Parents can invite others to deposit money directly into the account. There is an annual cost of .89%. The money is invested in Vanguard funds. Account values could go up, or down, depending upon the performance of the funds. As part of the partnership, TrustEgg has agreed to fund some of NBCI's financial literacy efforts. "We really expect a million accounts," TrustEgg CEO Jeff Brice told the News. "We will help them all along the way. " pfurman@nydailynews.com