The updated Bank On National Account Standards identify critical product features for bank or credit union accounts appropriate to those currently outside of the mainstream banking system. Core account features include low costs, no overdraft fees, robust transaction capabilities such as a debit or prepaid card, and online bill pay. Notable changes in the 2019-2020 Standards include allowing paper statement fees that cannot exceed $2 per month, reflecting both costs experienced by financial institution partners and the strong online functionality of certified accounts.
Author: Katie Plat
Over Two Dozen Bank and Credit Union Accounts Certified as Meeting Newly Updated Bank On National Account Standards
This press release announces that 28 banks and credit unions with over 21,300 branches now offer accounts meeting Bank On National Account Standards, newly updated for 2019-2020. Low-cost, low-fee, no-overdraft financial products that meet these national Standards are now already available across all 50 states and the District of Columbia at banks and credit unions that range in size from as many as 2 branches to as few as 5,500 branches. Click here to learn more about the national Bank On movement.
CFE Fund Comment Letter to the Federal Reserve on Faster Payments
The CFE Fund submitted a comment letter to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in response to their request for public comments on the need for new infrastructure that can enable ubiquitous, nationwide access to safe and efficient faster payments. Speaking from the CFE Fund’s programming and research experience working with nearly 70 mayors across the country, particularly in regard to those that are unbanked, this comment letter calls out the lack of real-time payment and settlement systems as one of the top barriers discouraging people from connecting into the stability of the financial mainstream, and urges a real time payment system.
Supervitamin Quarterly, Issue 15
This issue, Issue 15, highlights the findings from the CFE Fund and Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ 2017 Bank On Data Pilot; along with new Bank On resources; updates on the scaling of the Financial Empowerment Center initiative under the FEC Public platform; early successes seen from CFE Fund’s CityStart initiative; updates on Consumer Financial Protection efforts; and highlights from the fifth year of the Summer Jobs Connect initiative. It also includes local updates from the CFE Coalition, and a guest column from Daniel Davis, Assistant Vice President and Community Affairs Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
CFE Coalition Comment Letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
The CFE Coalition submitted a comment letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), in response to their request for public comments on amendments to the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA). This letter focused on the CFE Coalition’s support for modernizing the CRA to meet the changing needs of member banks, while preserving the original intent of the law. Based on the Coalition’s on-the-ground experience expanding financial access to millions of people, the CFE Coalition offers recommendations regarding the definition of CRA assessment areas, the eligibility of activities that could receive consideration during the examination process, maintaining and strengthening the service test and ensuring that any proposed evaluation methodology does not undermine the value and incentive for banks to work with local communities.
The Present and Future of Bank On Account Data: Pilot Results and Prospective Data Collection
This report, The Present and Future of Bank On Account Data: Pilot Results and Prospective Data Collection, details the Bank On Data Pilot, which collected and measured quantitative data on 2017 Bank On account usage at four pilot financial institutions with certified accounts: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. The CFE Fund partnered with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRBSTL) for this pilot, which reveals the kinds of relevant account data that can be collected, how it might be collected, and what it might show; as well, this pilot highlights the benefits of a central reporting system for financial institutions with Bank On certified accounts and for their coalition partners across the country.
The anonymized dataset at the zip code level is available for download here. Want to play with the data yourself? A newly published Bank On Coalition Playbook Chapter,2017 Bank On Data Pilot: Accessing the Data, details how Bank On coalitions can use the Local Bank On Data Tool to produce reports of this data locally to support their work to expand banking access and the availability of Bank On accounts locally.
The CFE Fund and Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis hosted a webinar on this report and the Data pilot. Click here to watch the webinar.
CFE Coalition City Expert Topics: Reentry Integration Strategies
Nearly 10 million people exit local, state, and federal prison each year after completing their incarceration. Given the high rates of recidivism, the cost of incarceration, and the impact of incarceration on families, many city partners have begun testing financial empowerment strategies to help improve safe and successful reentry. This brief details the various strategies our city partners have taken to integrate financial empowerment into core social services, to support the formerly incarcerated reentering the community, and to achieve the “Supervitamin Effect” to boost programmatic outcomes.
Videos: Summer Jobs Connect, Where Strong Financial Futures Begin
Each year, over 110,000 young people work summer jobs and are supported through financial education, banking access, and other financial empowerment resources as part of the CFE Fund’s national Summer Jobs Connect (SJC) initiative, supported by the Citi Foundation.
These videos detail three SJC participants’ unique experiences of having a summer job, engaging in financial education, opening a bank account, building savings, and more.
Nicole’s Story
Irfan’s Story
Elaine’s Story
CFE Coalition City Expert Topics: Youth Savings Initiatives
Across the country, a number of local governments are increasing the availability of youth savings opportunities for families, with the goal of improving the likelihood that students of limited means enroll and persist in higher education. This brief details why city leaders are investing in youth savings initiatives, provides details on how these programs operate, and highlights how cities have gotten started doing this critical work.
Nine Local Governments Chosen to Develop Financial Counseling as a Free Public Service
This press release announces the selection of nine additional local governments to replicate the Financial Empowerment Center (FEC) model under the CFE Fund’s national FEC Public platform. Selected municipalities (Atlanta, GA; Aurora, IL; Baltimore, MD; the County of Hawai’i, HI; Erie, PA; Polk County, IA; Roanoke, VA; Rochester, NY; and Washington, DC) will work to launch free, professional one-on-one financial counseling as a free public service for residents in need.
The CFE Fund, with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Wells Fargo, The JPB Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, and Capital One, is working to expand the FEC model to as many as 50 local governments. The CFE Fund provides grant support, intensive technical assistance, and a vibrant national learning community to help local government partners plan, launch, and sustain Financial Empowerment Centers for their residents.
To learn more about the national FEC Public initiative, visit www.fecpublic.org