Launched in late September 2008, Bank on Seattle-King County is an initiative to help ‘unbanked’ and ‘underbanked’ people access affordable financial services including checking, savings, credit, and financial education. According to estimates from the Brookings Institution, there are an estimated 52,000 ‘unbanked’ households in Seattle and King County. Our goal is to open accounts for at least 10,000 of them in the first two years of the initiative and tohave at least 80% of those accounts successfully maintained or upgraded.
Five sponsors—ABC, City of Seattle, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, and The Seattle Foundation—are working with 22 banks and credit unions to remove barriers to access and help people open checking and savings accounts. Over forty community partners are assisting in the outreach effort and a dozen are offering financial education classes through this initiative.
The 22 participating financial institutions and the sponsors developed and reached consensus on clear criteria for the products, services, and practices that the participating financial institutions would have to offer. Also, they agreed to report data on a quarterly basis that will help us evaluate the effectiveness of the initiative.
Financial education is a key component of Bank on Seattle-King County. We recently organized the Seattle-King County Financial Education Providers Network to:
- Improve the effectiveness and quality of financial education.
- Increase access to financial education.
- Developed effective financial education models.
- Share best practices, streamline, coordinate, and promote financial education.
Beyond helping the unbanked access checking and savings accounts, Bank on Seattle-King County has also begun to work with more than ten of the 22 participating financial institutions to develop and market other financial services and products to meet the needs of lower-income and working people. These products include alternative payday loans or small-dollar loans, alternative tax refund anticipation loans, citizenship loans, and affordable car loans.
For more information, visit www.EveryoneIsWelcome.org.
