BLK dating app launches campaign to promote financial literacy in Black community
The Match Group-owned company will also send gift cards to some users “to fund dates at Black-owned businesses.”
Match Group’s BLK is celebrating Black Business Month with a new sweepstakes. (Credit: Match Group)
BLK, a dating app that describes itself as “the leading dating and lifestyle app for Black singles,” has launched a new campaign – called ‘Break the Bank’ – aimed at promoting financial literacy and weathering inflation throughout the Black community. The campaign, launched in partnership with networking collective The Gathering Spot, will be rolled out nationwide in observance of Black Business Month.
BLK is a subsidiary of Match Group, the dating app giant that also owns Tinder and Hinge. As part of its new ‘Break the Bank’ campaign, BLK said in a statement that it will also be sending gift cards that can be used “to fund dates at Black-owned businesses.” For a chance to win, users can record and submit a video of themselves explaining how they would use the funds. A total of $10,000 will be distributed to 40 users ($250 per user).
The company recently surveyed 20,000 of its users and found that 69% “agree that the recent increase in the cost of living is hurting their dating and social lives.” 66% of users, furthermore, said that inflation has compelled them to delay first dates in order to spend more time getting to know a person before meeting IRL.
What’s more, Black business owners also appear to be disproportionately negatively affected by inflation, shutting down at twice the average national rate, according to BLK.
‘Break the Bank’ also aims to expand access to financial literacy programs among the Black community. “There’s a disparity in the rates of financial literacy across different racial and ethnic groups in the United States, with Black populations tending to have lower rates of financial literacy than their white and Asian counterparts,” BLK said in a statement.
The Gathering Spot, BLK says, will send in-app push notifications about “financial tips specific to the Black community, with topics ranging from ‘How Increased Rates will Affect Your Money Flow’ to ‘Tips to Grow Your Small Business to the Next Level.’”
BLK is also promoting The Gathering Spot’s #BlackSummerSpend campaign, encouraging users to spend money at Black-owned businesses in an effort – in the company’s words – ”to keep the Black dollar in the Black community.”
The news follows an announcement on Friday from Match Group competitor Bumble that it is debuting ‘Luv2SeeIt,’ a special video series that spotlights unique Black dating experiences – starring celebrities including Lori Harvey, Joey Bada$$, Madison Bailey and Jidenna.