The conversation about Old Glory Bank began in November of 2020, when Eric Olhausen called our President and CEO, Mike Ring, about an idea for a Pro-America Bank. Ring loved the idea, but didn’t then have the passion to upend his life to help create one. That is, until January 20, 2021, when Ring heard Mike Lindell, the owner of MyPillow, on the Sean Hannity radio show talking about how his business had lost its distribution in stores due to his outspoken pro-Trump and pro-conservative comments.
Ring knew in that moment that Eric’s idea was necessary, because the “cancellation" would not stop there. Ring knew that payments and financial transactions would follow. “I started screaming at the radio, ‘Lindell they are coming for your banking next!’ I knew in that moment that if one group can shut down the ability to transact business or process payments, they win and America loses. I immediately called Eric and told him his idea to start a Pro-America bank was ready and this will the answer to debanking!”
Ring and Eric took action right away and gathered the team that would form the senior leadership and co-founders of Old Glory Bank. Quickly, their fears were confirmed and stories of individuals and businesses who had their bank accounts canceled made their way back to the team. This confirmation further spurred them on to execute the daunting task to which they were called: Create an alternative to the woke banks. A bank that would not cancel its law-abiding customers, regardless of their political affiliation or speech. Old Glory Bank was formed.
It has been four years since that proclamation to create Old Glory Bank, and the leadership of Old Glory Bank has executed exactly what they set out to do: Create a bank that serves customers in all fifty states with the promise of privacy, security, and liberty in their financial lives. Many of those canceled from other banks are now customers of Old Glory Bank.
Over the years, educating other consumers and businesses about the frequency of debanking has proved challenging. People on social media understandably wanted “receipts.” They were skeptical that this was actually happening, and a chorus of “Prove it!” rang out from social media responses. Of course, as a bank, we will not share information publicly about our customers. Understandably, many of these customers also wanted to stay quiet about this issue, fearing further retaliation in other spheres of their lives. They still have other business and personal relationships they need to preserve to protect their families.
His conversation with Joe Rogan on Rogan's podcast on November 26, 2024, reached tens of millions of people. It was the first time many had heard of debanking or given it any level of credibility. Andreessen laid out what has been happening in the tech world and other industries. Rogan responded to the shocking revelations with multiple Rogan-esque “Whooooa”s. Andreessen shared information about his business associates who had their accounts canceled.
“[I]t has hit the tech world . . . we have had like thirty founders debanked in the last four years. It has been a big recurring pattern. This is one of the reasons why we ended up supporting Trump. We just can’t live in this world; we can’t live in a world where if somebody starts a company that is a completely legal thing and then they literally get sanctioned and embargoed by the United States government through a completely unaccountable, by the way, no due process. None of this is written down. There are no rules. There is no court. There is no decision process. There is no appeal. Who do you appeal to? Who do you go to to get your bank account back.”
The podcast opened the door for many to learn about this issue for the first time. Elon Musk reposted the podcast on X and weighed in on multiple other posts further pushing the reach of the issue.
Over the following days, the “#MeToo” movement of debanking became a viral moment on X. Users began sharing their stories of debanking for the first time. They ranged from those who had posted their views on social media that were contrary to the government’s position on the COVID-19 vaccine to those who had commented in support of President Trump. In other instances, the cancelations had to do with the industry in which a business was lawfully operating: crypto-adjacent businesses, firearms retailers, legal medical marijuana, and natural or alternative medical doctors speaking out about vaccines.
Because the issue of debanking was immediately legitimized, these canceled customers felt “safe" for the first time to share their stories. They posted photographs of their letters from banks that provided no explanation as to why their financial lives were so dramatically ruined. They also shared that they had kept quiet about the issue because they were fearful of retaliation in other areas of their business and personal life. Precisely what Ring and the other co-founders knew would happen and why Old Glory Bank exists was laid out for the world to see.
Old Glory Bank's customers jumped in. They shared with the world that we were founded to protect against precisely this type of overreach and that they were grateful for their experience as our customers.
You can see some of those posts and weigh in HERE.
Old Glory Bank is poised and ready to serve those customers who were on the right side of history. We may now have a new administration , but Big Banks and those who run them have not changed.
Choose a bank run by people who value the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and do not change their views based on who is in office. Join the movement by banking with Old Glory Bank. You were on the right side of history. Make sure you are on the right side of banking.