MAYORS NATIONAL DOLLAR WI$E CAMPAIGN

MODEL PROGRAM SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Bank on
San Francisco
F I N A N C I A L E D U C AT I O N F O R A M E R I C A

FOUNDING SPONSOR

U.S. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS

COUNCIL FOR THE NEW AMERICAN CITY

DOLLAR WI$E

Model Program
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

Bank on San Francisco

Created by Mayor Gavin Newsom, City
Treasurer Jos Cisneros, and the Federal
Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Bank on
San Francisco is the first comprehensive
program of its kind to address the needs of
the unbanked. Through a coalition of fifteen
banks and credit unions, nonprofit partners
and government agencies, Bank on San

Mayor
Gavin Newsom

Francisco seeks to help 10,000 unbanked

ONLINE

www.sfgov.org/bankonsf

San Franciscans open bank accounts within

CO N TAC T

the first two years of the program pilot.

Leigh Phillips
415.554.4320
leigh.phillips@sfgov.org

RIGHT

San Francisco Mayo Gavin Newsom and

City Treasurer Jos Cisneros launch Bank
on San Francisco at an event during
Dollar Wi$e Week in September 2006.

U.S. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS

ABOVE

THE PROBLEM
An estimated 50,000 San Francisco households are
unbanked, meaning they live without access to basic
financial services, such as a checking or savings account.
Among African Americans and Latinos, approximately half
of the adult population does not have a bank account of any
kind. With no safe place to cash their checks, pay their bills,
and keep their money, these San Franciscans are forced to
rely on high-cost check cashers and other fringe financialservice providers.

Families who regularly use check cashers can
spend upwards of $800 a year to cash checks and pay bills.
Those who least can afford it are charged 3% to 10% of the
value of their checks just to access their own hard-earned
money. Unable to build assets and save for the future, these
families are particularly vulnerable in times of crisis, not to
mention their increased likelihood of becoming victims of
fraud, predatory lending, or other such crimes. In the event
of an emergency, such as a fire or an earthquake, families risk
losing everything and will be unable to access needed funds
remotely.

San Francisco is the first city in the nation to seek
to address the problems faced by the unbanked and help
everyone transition into the financial mainstream. In late
2005, Mayor Gavin Newsom and Treasurer Jos Cisneros
challenged every bank and credit union in San Francisco
to partner with the city and the Federal Reserve Bank of
San Francisco to create a new initiative called Bank on San
Francisco. One year later, the initiative emerged as a coalition
of fifteen banks and credit unions united around the
ambitious goal to bank 10,000 unbanked San Franciscans
during the first two years of the project.

Over the course of a year, the Office of the Treasurer
and the Federal Reserve worked with banks and credit
unions to create an initiative to:
Increase the supply of starter account and bank
products for the low-income, unbanked market. They
did so by developing baseline criteria for these products
that must be met by all participating institutions.
Raise awareness among unbanked consumers of the

Multilingual advertising posters produced by international

marketing firm McCann Worldgroup help spread awareness
of Bank on San Francisco throughout the citys multiethnic
neighborhoods.

benefits of account ownership.

Provide quality money management education.
Clamp down on the proliferation of check cashers and
payday lenders.
Raise citywide awareness of the unbanked problem and
potential solutions.

THE PROGRAM
Focus groups conducted with unbanked consumers in
San Francisco reveal that they would prefer to have a bank
account than to use check cashers. However, many have
serious concerns about the cost of a bank account. Some
are worried they will be denied an account because they
have made mistakes with a bank account in the past. Others
believe that without a Social Security card or California state
ID they are simply not eligible for an account. In addition to
these hard barriers to banking, some believe they simply
do not make enough money to have a bank account, or fear
they will be disrespected or made unwelcome if they enter a
mainstream bank or credit union branch.

The Bank on San Francisco Steering Committee is
comprised of staff from the Treasurers Office, the Federal
Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and the Earned Asset
Resource Network, or EARN, a nonprofit organization. The
committee worked with banks and credit unions to develop
an account that would address the needs of the unbanked
market. As a result, all of the banks and credit unions
participating in the program have agreed to the following
baseline criteria:
Offer a low-cost or no-cost product with no minimum
balance requirement. The structure of many accounts
with high minimum balances and feesis a key factor

COUNCIL FOR THE NEW AMERICAN CITY

ABOVE

Billboards created by international marketing firm McCann

Worldgroup warn about the dangers of check-cashing services.
keeping the unbanked out of the financial mainstream.
Adapt internal systems to allow customers on
ChexSystems to open second-chance checking
accounts.
Accept the Mexican Matricula and Guatemalan Consular
identification cards as primary ID. For many immigrants,
the barrier to opening an account is having the proper
documentation
Expand marketing in targeted, low-income
neighborhoods. Increase the visibility of appropriate
products in San Francisco and develop new strategies
to reach unbanked customers in low-income
neighborhoods.
Provide a minimum of four financial management
training sessions in the community per year.
Partner with nonprofits in San Francisco to identify
customers ready to enter the financial mainstream.

Bank on San Francisco launched as a two-year pilot
in October 2006.

OUTREACH AND MARKETING

International marketing firm McCann Worldgroup stepped

in to offer a professional marketing and media campaign

to promote Bank on San Francisco. The first phase of the
campaign was designed to create buzz and generate interest.
Anticheck-cashing billboards across the city and advertising
on Muni transit buses delivered the message that check
cashers shrink your paycheck.

The second phase of the campaign addresses
the barriers to banking and employs the theme Everyone is
Welcome. A series of five posters in three languages is being
distributed through community organizations, city agencies,
banks and credit unions, and businesses across the city. Over
70,000 trilingual coupons, with basic program information
and the names of each participating bank or credit union,
have been printed. Of these, 20,000 have already been
distributed to 180 community-based organizations, and a
further 10,000 to recipients of the citys Working Families
Credit. These materials are available free of charge to every
participating bank and credit union as well as to city agencies
and community partners.

Public service announcements are scheduled to
run throughout the year on both television and radio. The
Examiner newspaper has agreed to run a quarter-page ad
indefinitely promoting Bank on San Francisco. A city-hosted
Web site directs clients to the programs partner financial
institutions. The United Ways Helplink service is managing all
Bank on San Francisco customer service by phone, with live
phone service available in over 100 languages.

In addition, the program has received coverage from
the local and national media, and has been profiled in the San
Francisco Chronicle, The Examiner, the San Francisco Business
Times, and the Bay Area Reporter, as well as on National Public
Radio.

The initiative is proving extremely popular with
community nonprofits, city agencies, foreign consulates,
and local businesses that recognize an opportunity to help
their clients or employees. An extensive outreach effort
is underway to link financial institutions with community
partners and create opportunities to open accounts for
thousands of residents.

Bank on San Francisco is an unprecedented attempt
to address a serious, yet solvable, social problem. Through an
innovative partnership which draws on the strengths of local
and federal government agencies, for-profit banks and credit
unions, and a wide range of community partners, Bank on
San Francisco is poised to become the first comprehensive
program in the nation to address the needs of the unbanked
and set thousands of families on the road to financial security.
Text provided by the City and County of San Francisco.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information on the Mayors National Dollar Wi$e
Campaign, please contact us at the telephone number,
Web site, or e-mail address listed below.

MAYORS NATIONAL DOLLAR WI$E CAMPAIGN

Financial Education for America
202.861.6759 | www.dollarwiseonline.org | dollarwise@usmayors.org