Bank On Save Up

June 21, 2011

The City of Kansas City, MO, wants more citizens to use banks. Earlier this month the city kicked off an initiative it calls Bank On Save Up Kansas City.

Bank On programs have been springing up all over the country, and encourage the unbanked to open basic, no-frills checking accounts. Bank On Save Up Kansas City takes the idea one step further by encouraging unbanked families to open savings accounts also.

The FDIC estimates that 9 million American households (or 7.7% of households) are unbanked. In Missouri 8.2% of households (200,000+) are unbanked, according to the FDIC's data.

Kansas City's stated goal is modest. It wants to get at least 3,000  local unbanked households to sign up for "starter" bank accounts over the next two years. And it expects at least a third will be savings accounts. City officials also will work to ensure that at least 80% of those new accounts remain open for more than a year.

Bank On Save Up accounts are available today through 18 bank and credit union locations throughout Greater Kansas City.

In addition to getting folks to open bank accounts, Bank On Save Up Kansas City taps into the expertise of local non-profits to offer financial education services, including a series of two-hour workshops.

"A city receives its greatest return when it gives its citizens the tools to help themselves," said Mayor Pro Tem Cindy Circo. "Having Kansas Citians engaged in the financial marketplace makes for a more productive and engaged community."

Fewer than 2% of the world's poor have access to financial services other than those provided by unregulated moneylenders.