The Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) and its national partners have launched a new Bank On website – an online database of resources and tools that can be used to promote financial stability and asset-building for families and entire communities. According to the FDIC, nearly 8% of households in the U.S. do not have bank accounts and roughly 18% of households are underbanked, meaning that individuals may have a single bank account through costly financial services. The statistics for minority families are particularly bleak - approximately 54% of black families and 43% of Latino families are either unbanked or underbanked.
To ensure that communities have access to quality financial services, Bank On programs have been developed in communities throughout the nation to reduce barriers to quality financial services by providing low-income and underbanked families with free bank accounts and financial education. In an effort to promote the importance of financial education and asset building, the new website includes several new resources, including:
- “Research Your Community” Tool: This interactive tool provides information about a community’s access to quality financial services, as well as the estimated number of households that are unbanked or underbanked.
- Directory of Bank On Programs: This can be used to help locate Bank On programs in or near your community.
- “Start A Bank On Program” Guides: These guides provides material resources and step-by-step guidance on how to develop a Bank On Program in your community, including guidance on building partnerships with local governments, community organizations and financial institutions.
For more information about the Bank On program, visit joinbankon.org
For more information about the importance of building, as well as a list of resources, please click here.
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