NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/
-- The Cities for Financial Empowerment
Fund (CFE Fund) announced today the awarding of five
2-year fellowships to advance local Bank On coalition operations
and generate best practices for coalitions across the country.
Local Bank On coalitions across the country, led by or working
closely with local government, work to expand access
to safe and appropriate financial products and
services to the over 65 million people outside
of the mainstream financial system who rely on alternative, costly
financial services. Five Fellowships were awarded to
coalitions in Houston, TX (Bank On
Houston); Mobile, AL (Bank On
South Alabama); New Haven, CT
(Bank On New Haven); Summit County,
OH (Bank On Rubber City); and Tampa, St.
Petersburg, and Sarasota,
FL (Bank On Suncoast).
"Bank On coalitions across the country do critical work helping
consumers to access safe, affordable accounts – but often lack
funding for dedicated leadership," said Jonathan Mintz, President and CEO of the Cities
for Financial Empowerment Fund. "We are proud to support
these five coalitions and their new Fellows with training and
resources, and look forward to the sharing lessons learned from
this cohort with the broader Bank On movement."
The Bank On Fellowship program provides funding to support a
full-time staff position for two years, a "Fellow," to lead
coalition activities. It is the first national initiative focused
on building a multi-city cohort of successful Bank On program
coordinators, equipping them with the training, tools, and
resources to make significant advancements in local banking access
efforts and at the same time generating best practices for other
coalitions around the country.
The goal of Bank On is to ensure that everyone
has access to safe and affordable financial products and
services. The Bank On National Account
Standards identify critical product features
for appropriate bank or credit union accounts,
making it easier for local coalitions across the country to
connect consumers to accounts that meet their needs.
Core account features include low costs, no
overdraft fees, robust transaction capabilities such as a
debit or prepaid card, and online bill pay. Already,
Bank On certified accounts are available in over 24,100 branches
across 49 states and the District of
Columbia.
The Bank On Fellowship program is supported by Wells Fargo,
whose $1 million investment supports
Bank On Fellows work for 2 years, as well as providing broader
support for Bank On efforts to connect residents to safe,
appropriate accounts.
"Economic empowerment — especially by expanding access to
responsible financial products and services — is one of Wells
Fargo's philanthropic priorities, so we are proud to collaborate
with CFE Fund to sponsor the Bank On Fellowship Program," said
Shelley Marquez, Wells Fargo
Senior Vice President and Community Relations Senior Manager.
"This program is an innovative way to allow coalitions to devote
full-time resources to helping consumers join or re-join the
financial mainstream, so they are keeping and growing more of their
money instead of relying on costly financial alternatives."
The CFE Fund provides funding and technical assistance to help
coalitions improve availability of appropriate low-cost, low-fee
transactional bank accounts that meet the Bank On National Account
Standards; builds and strengthens coalition infrastructure and
leadership; invests in replicable methods of reaching
underserved markets through local government programming
infrastructure, and leads a national learning community of local
coalitions and other Bank On stakeholders.
To learn more about Bank On and the National Account
Standards click here, or follow the conversation on Twitter
@CFEfund #BankOn.
About the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE
Fund)
The CFE Fund supports municipal efforts to improve the financial
stability of households by leveraging opportunities unique to local
government. By translating cutting edge experience with large scale
programs, research, and policy in cities of all sizes, the CFE Fund
assists mayors and other local leaders to identify, develop, fund,
implement, and research pilots and programs that help families
build assets and make the most of their financial resources. For
more information, please visit www.cfefund.org or follow
us on Twitter at @CFEFund.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company
(NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services
company with $1.9 trillion in assets.
Wells Fargo's vision is to satisfy
our customers' financial needs and help them succeed financially.
Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San
Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance,
investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through
more than 8,400 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet
(wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42
countries and territories to support customers who conduct business
in the global economy. With approximately 268,000 team members,
Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on
Fortune's 2017 rankings of America's largest corporations. The
Chronicle of Philanthropy ranked Wells Fargo No. 3 on its most
recent list of the top corporate cash philanthropists. In 2016,
Wells Fargo donated $281.3 million to
14,900 nonprofits and Wells Fargo team members volunteered 1.73
million hours with 50,000 nonprofits. Wells Fargo's corporate social responsibility
efforts are focused on three priorities: economic empowerment in
underserved communities, environmental sustainability, and
advancing diversity and social inclusion. News, insights and
perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo
Stories.
About Bank On
Bank On coalitions are locally-led partnerships between local
public officials; city, state, and federal government
agencies; financial institutions; and community organizations that
work together to help improve the financial stability of unbanked
and underbanked individuals and families in their communities. The
Bank On national initiative builds on a grassroots movement of
dozens of coalitions in cities across the country, offering
national account standards, capacity grant support, pilot funding,
and a learning community. These first-generation banking access
programs have already connected hundreds of thousands of people to
safe and affordable accounts. In addition to connecting unbanked
individuals to accounts, Bank On programs raise public awareness,
target outreach to the unbanked, and expand access to financial
education. Visit www.cfefund.org/bankon for more
information.
Media Contact:
Joel
Moore
joel.moore@hkstrategies.com
212.885.0468
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SOURCE Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund