Native American neobank Totem takes on its first tribal partner

Totem, a challenger bank for Native Americans, has announced its first tribal partner.

The Tulsa, Oklahoma, neobank will collaborate with the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma on marketing campaigns where the tribe will publicize the banking app to its members and receive a portion of Totem's interchange revenue in return. The two entities will also integrate the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma's benefits into the "resources" section of Totem's app.

Digital banking

Native American neobank customizing financial services for tribes

Totem's digital banking app is the first created by and for Native Americans. The challenger bank will help each of its partner tribes offer uniquely branded apps that provide banking services, distribute government assistance and teach users how to build their credit.

By Miriam Cross

July 12

Totem will launch nationally as a direct-to-consumer app in the spring, with this tribal campaign happening shortly thereafter. Its strategy is multifold: It will serve as a mobile banking app with a spending account, debit card, early paycheck access, information about tribal benefits and more for Native American users. It will white-label the app to individual tribes, which could feature that tribe's colors and language and provide a way to distribute tribal benefits electronically. 

And it will forge co-marketing partnerships with tribes, as it is doing with the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. This kind of partnership is a low-cost customer acquisition tool for Totem. Tribes may also list their benefits on Totem for free.

"Together with our current and future tribal partners, we're working to create a new tradition of Native wealth-building," Amber Buker, Totem's founder and CEO, said in a press release. The neobank's road map includes credit-building products, charitable giving and Native-specific mortgages, such as Section 184 loans from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma in Wyandotte, Oklahoma, has roots in financial services. It is the majority owner of the $364.5 million-asset Peoples' Bank of Seneca in Missouri. It is also creating a presence for its Indigo Sky Casino & Resort in the metaverse that will tie back to the land-based property. 

First Pryority Bank in Pryor, Oklahoma, which has $358.1 million of assets, will provide underlying banking services for Totem.