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Connecticut now has a statewide presence in the national Bank On movement, an initiative that promotes safe and affordable banking products.
The Connecticut Association for Human Services (CAHS) has launched Bank On Connecticut in partnership with the national nonprofit organization Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund). The new initiative expands Bank On New Haven, which launched three years ago, into a statewide program.
Bank On Connecticut is one of 90 Bank On coalitions across the country connecting local residents to safe banking products. The program looks to expand access to appropriate financial products and services. Nearly 50 million Americans are outside of the mainstream financial system, according to a statement from CAHS, and often use costly alternative financial services.
The CFE Fund leads the national Bank On movement and provided a $25,000 Bank On Capacity Grant to CAHS to support Bank On Connecticut.
The Connecticut initiative has four bank partners: Bank of America, Chase Bank, Key Bank and Wells Fargo. These banks will offer certified accounts that meet national Bank On standards. Some core features of the national standards include low costs, no overdraft fees, online bill pay and transaction capabilities such as a debit or prepaid card.
CAHS said in a statement that its goal is to encourage more financial institutions to offer certified accounts and reach unbanked and underbanked individuals across Connecticut, increasing financial stability for Connecticut residents “by building up the coalition across the four corners of the state.”
“I am thrilled that through our partnership with banks and community organization, the Bank On Connecticut program will open doors for our unbanked and underbanked neighbors so that they can access free financial education,” CAHS CEO John Merz said in the statement.
Valerie Williams, a regional manager of community affairs at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, said that the 2017 FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households showed 5.5 percent of Connecticut’s population as unbanked and 15.3 percent as underbanked.
“The FDIC is committed to working with Bank On Connecticut to advance this important work,” Williams said in the statement.
Jonathan Mintz, president and CEO of the CFE Fund said the COVID-19 pandemic had demonstrated the importance of mainstream banking accounts, including for direct deposits of government payments, paying bills electronically and accessing funds without having to go in person “to predatory services like check cashers or payday lenders.”
Bank of America developed its Advantage SafeBalance Banking with the needs of the underserved in mind, said Dani Cassidy, senior vice president and Connecticut region executive for Bank of America.
“Locally, we have been involved since the program’s inception in New Haven and are pleased to see the program expand statewide,” Cassidy said in the statement. “Bank of America is committed to supporting economic mobility across the state of Connecticut, to help put communities and individuals on a path to long-term success.”
Connecticut is the first New England state to implement a statewide Bank On program. Massachusetts has two regional Bank On programs in Boston and Worcester County.
