Katie Plat

COVID-19 Resources

Posted on April 7, 2020January 20, 2021 by Katie Plat

The CFE Fund has a number of supportive resources related to COVID-19!

This page lists all safe and affordable accounts certified as meeting the Bank On National Account Standards that can be opened online.

Municipal financial empowerment is a fundamental aspect of help and recovery. As city governments and others help residents navigate the financial impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, the following resources sheets can provide guidance on safe financial measures during this tumultuous time. The CFE Fund will continue to develop resources and add them to this page.

Banking Messaging Toolkit: We hope you will customize the components within this Banking Messaging Toolkit for your own communications efforts, and also share the toolkit with any other organizations whose clients might benefit from safe banking during this time. Contact us for access to the toolkit!
This toolkit includes an array of resources that can be used and customize locally including:
- Talking points;
- Template social media language;
- Social media graphics;
- A template press release for coalitions, local governments, or other partners to use in announcing their efforts; and
- Examples of ways that local governments, Bank On coalitions, and others already are highlighting the importance of banking access to receive payments and guiding residents to certified Bank On accounts.
Importance of Banking Access During COVID-19: It has never been more important to have a banking account. This tip sheet outlines the importance of a safe and affordable mainstream bank or credit union account for managing your money remotely, including to receive wages and government benefits securely through direct deposit and make payments remotely.
Engaging Unbanked People About Safe Banking Accounts, Particularly During This National Crisis: This tip sheet draws on findings from recent CFE Fund focus group and survey research on how to communicate the value of banking accounts to unbanked people, which are especially important during this crisis moment. The CFE Fund also produced a more in-depth version of this information as a Bank On Playbook chapter.
Safe Financial Measures to Take During COVID-19: This tip sheet lists the top ways to manage your finances if you have been financially affected by COVID-19.

Have ideas for resources that would be helpful in providing guidance on meeting the financial challenges of COVID-19? Get in touch!

CFE Comment Letter to the FDIC on Reform of the Community Reinvestment Act

Posted on April 2, 2020April 2, 2020 by Katie Plat

The CFE Fund submitted a comment letter to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in response to their request for comment on the proposed reform of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The letter expresses the CFE Fund’s concern that a change to the CRA evaluation methodology that focuses purely on quantifiable CRA activities may undermine support for broader financial inclusion efforts that are more difficult to value, such as increasing access to safe and affordable banking accounts and investments in account opening partnerships.

Making the Case for Banking Access: Talking to Unbanked People about Bank Accounts

Posted on November 7, 2019 by Katie Plat

This report, Making the Case for Banking Access: Talking to Unbanked People About Bank Accounts, explores effective messages for communicating with those who are unbanked about the value of safe accounts. The CFE Fund commissioned strategic communications firm RALLY and polling research firm PSB to field a multi-city series of focus groups and surveys to uncover what types of messaging would most effectively move unbanked people to open accounts; a subset of the research focused on the financial attitudes, habits, and goals of unbanked people, as well as on Spanish-speaking unbanked people and how messages might best engage them to open accounts.

CFE Fund Comment Letter to CFPB on Overdraft Rule

Posted on July 8, 2019 by Katie Plat

The CFE Fund submitted this 2019 comment letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in response to the Bureau’s request for feedback on review of the Overdraft Rule. Based on its programmatic experience working with over 80 municipal governments and community organizations across the country, the CFE Fund urged the CFPB not to change the Overdraft Rule. Overdraft fees push millions of consumers outside of the financial mainstream, and serves as a barrier for the previously unbanked to rejoin the system – joining the financial mainstream is a critical component of financial stability. In addition, the market is already moving in a positive direction towards no-overdraft products; changing the Overdraft Rule risks slowing the success of this positive shift.

The Citi Foundation and CFE Fund launch the sixth year of Summer Jobs Connect

Posted on June 12, 2019June 12, 2019 by Katie Plat

This press release announces an additional $5 million in support from the Citi Foundation to provide more than 2,550 low-income youth with summer jobs and access to financial education as part of Summer Jobs Connect in 2019. Since launching in 2014, the Citi Foundation has invested over $28 million in this initiative, which has provided 13,535 young people with summer jobs and over 500,000 low-income youth with access to financial education and safe and affordable financial services. Summer Jobs Connect city partners, which include Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York City, St. Louis, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and eight additional cities across the country, have built these financial empowerment strategies into the infrastructure of their Summer Youth Employment Programs. The CFE Fund also launched a national social media campaign, highlighting youth and partner voices on the impact of Summer Jobs Connect, and a new SJC video.

Video: Summer Jobs Connect – More Than Just a Summer Job

Posted on June 11, 2019June 11, 2019 by Katie Plat

Each year, as part of the national Summer Jobs Connect (SJC) initiative, the CFE Fund, with generous support from the Citi Foundation, partners with mayors and local governments from across the country to connect 2,550 young people with summer jobs, and more than 110,000 young people with financial education, banking access, and other financial empowerment resources.

The video below features Summer Jobs Connect partners including the City of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Former City of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, City of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and Former President of the Citi Foundation Brandee McHale.

National Banking Access Movement Convenes Stakeholders in Washington, DC

Posted on May 29, 2019October 21, 2021 by Katie Plat

The CFE Fund’s 2019 Bank On National Conference in Washington, DC brought together key stakeholders from multiple sectors across the country: local Bank On coalition program leads and their community partners, Mayors, city administrators, tribal governments, financial institutions large and small, federal banking regulators, national nonprofit organizations, philanthropic partners, consumer advocates, and more.

The conference included a lunchtime conversation on exploring the municipal connection to Bank On with Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of the City of Atlanta, GA; Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba of the City of Jackson, MS; and Mayor Frank Scott Jr. of the City of Little Rock, AR. Conference topics also included early findings from a national research study on effective communication strategies for unbanked consumers; perspectives from high-level federal banking regulators on banking access; insights from financial institutions of all sizes on investing in Bank On certified products; and best practices on banking access connectivity and integration into community programs.