Bank On Gets a Face Lift

December 7, 2011

Bank On is getting a face lift. Its new moniker is JoinBankOn.org, and its hallmark is a simple to use database tool that helps identify underserved communities and households, dubbed, appropriately enough, Reach Your Community.

Reach Your Community is powered by PolicyMap, an online interactive analysis tool that can be used to map out key socio-economic statistics on U.S. communities down to the neighborhood level. Policy Map is a service of The Reinvestment Fund, a non-profit that promotes neighborhood revitalization programs.

I took a test drive and discovered that only one out of 510 households in the rural Maryland community where I reside is unbanked; 75 households are considered underbanked. In the upstate New York community where I spent my childhood, 7.7% are unbanked, which also is the national average, according to the FDIC.

In New Orleans one out of every eight households (12.5%) is unbanked one out of four (25.5%) is underbanked, according to the Website. Underbanked households are those that report having an account with a financial institution but still use non-bank providers, such as check cashing houses and payday lenders.

Bank On is a network of local coalitions of government agencies, financial institutions and community organizations intended to help unbanked and underserved consumers transition into the financial mainstream. Programs typically feature low-cost deposit accounts at participating financial institutions and financial education programs. Pioneered in San Francisco in 2006, Bank On initiatives are now underway in over 100 communities, according to a recent report out of the U.S. Treasury Department - Banking On Opportunity: A Scan of the Evolving Field of Bank On Initiatives.

(We've written about Bank On programs extensively here at InsideMicroFinance. The latest coverage can be found here. You'll find more detailed information in this post.)

Treasury is an active partner in JoinBankOnl.org, as are the San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment, the National League of Cities and the New America Foundation. The Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), a Washington think tank dedicated to expanded economic opportunities in low-income communities, is spearheading the project.

Kasey Wiedrich, Senior Program Manager at CFED, said the database tool will be valuable to "anyone working to develop effective strategies aimed at increasing financial access for those who may be living outside of the financial mainstream."

Treasury, in its recent report on Bank On initiatives, said the concept holds promise, and it suggests tying the programs to asset-building initiatives (e.g.: America Saves) to promote financial stability, not just access. (Here's a link to a previous post on the America Saves program.)

In 2009, 8% of North American adults were unbanked, compared to 80% of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa

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