News
Posted by Caroline on February 11th, 2009
On Monday evening, members of the Global Economic Opportunity (GEO) Circle gathered at JP Morgan Chase, thanks to member, Michael Millman, to continue the work of their grant cycle, as well as hear an inspirational example of public-private partnership from San Francisco City and County Treasurer, José Cisneros.
Cisneros spoke to the group about the successes of the two-year old Bank on San Francisco program, a pilot project formed to reach some of the estimated 50,000 unbanked San Franciscans. The program started shortly after Cisneros was elected to City Treasurer and realized that low-income workers were losing a significant percentage of their pay checks at check-cashing stores and had no secure savings. “Just like city fire station tells residents to install fire alarms, why can’t we tell citizens to not get ripped off?” Cisneros asked the group.
After extensive research into why there were so many unbanked citizens, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Cisneros, and the Mayor’s Office, along with Earned Assets Resource Network (EARN) gathered the city’s banks and credit unions together to define the type of bank accounts that would need to be offered so that the unbanked would feel welcomed: low-cost, no minimum monthly balance, acceptance of all forms of identification, and offer financial literacy training. Soon 75% of the city’s banks signed on and within two years, 30,000 accounts were opened for formerly unbanked San Franciscans.
The Bank on San Francisco model is now being replicated throughout the state and is being looked at as a model for other cities throughout the nation. By bringing together important stakeholders - private banks, nonprofit organizations, and the city administration - all committed to making an impact on this pressing problem, Bank on San Francisco proves the importance of cross-sector partnerships, a foundation of Full Circle Fund’s model as well.
>Interested in joining the next Global Economic Opportunity Meeting? Contact Caroline Thompson, Membership and Communications Associate.
Posted in Jose Cisneros, Global Economic Opportunity
