Building Better Bank Ons: Top 10 Lessons From Bank On San Francisco
The following is an excerpt from the Executive Summary of a new report on building better Bank On programs based on the experiences of Bank on San Francisco.
Building Better Bank Ons
Top 10 Lessons From Bank On San Francisco
Leigh Phillips and Anne Stuhldreher
February 2011
In 2005 San Francisco city leaders were surprised by new research that estimated that one in five San Francisco adults and Latinos did not have bank accounts. These primarily working poor city residents faced a big disadvantage because they lacked this basic financial tool. In fact, many unbanked San Francisco residents reported paying 2 to 5 percent of their income just to cash their paychecks. Mayor Gavin Newsom and City Treasurer José Cisneros convened a working group to examine this problem. They learned that there are other costs to being unbanked, costs that are not readily apparent. Families without accounts do not have a safe place to keep their money. They walk around with wads of cash in their pockets or it is at home in a coffee can. Robberies can be more prevalent around check cashing outlets and a disaster, like a house fire or an earthquake, leaves unbanked families even less able to cope in the face of an emergency. Perhaps most importantly, a bank account is the first step to financial security. Without one, it is harder to save and to get well-priced car loans, credit cards, or mortgages the exact financial tools needed to climb the economic ladder. Families then stay stuck going to costly alternatives like pawn shops and rent-to-own stores.
Read the entire report on the New America Foundation – Asset Building Program website.