Bank On California

Need Help?
For more information, to get involved, or help opening an account, contact us:

email Bev BankOnCA@dfi.ca.gov
 


facts

Too many Californians conduct their financial lives outside the financial mainstream:

  • One in five Californians does not have a checking account
  • 25 percent of African American households don't have a checking account
  • 27 percent of Latino households don't have a checking account
  • Six percent of white households don't have a checking account.



About Bank On California

Bank on California - Helping Californians Open Bank and Credit Union Accounts:

The Bank On California initiative helps Californians open a bank or credit union account and start saving for the future. California is lauded as the first state in the nation to launch the initiative seeking to draw the "unbanked" into the financial mainstream.

The Department of Financial Institutions provides the state leadership of the initiative and recently announced that there are now eight Bank On programs in California. In addition, there are several new cities in the process of planning their programs. Bank on California coalitions are located in Amador, American Canyon, El Dorado, Fresno, Los Angeles, Monterey, Napa, Oakland, Orange, Placer Sacramento, Salinas, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus, Watsonville and Yolo.

Bank On California is a voluntary collaborative initiative that gives unbanked households access to mainstream financial products and services, including no- and low-cost checking and savings accounts with participating banks and credit unions and access to financial education.

Community partners include community-benefit (non-profit) organizations, local, state and federal government, and financial institutions (community banks and credit unions).

Bank On California, launched in December 2008, sought to open 100,000 starter accounts. Over 250,000 starter bank accounts have been opened to date. Bank On California has also made significant progress expanding financial education opportunities and has conducted over 3,000 financial education workshops, while reaching out to several thousand unbanked low- and moderate-income families and individuals throughout the state.

For more information, contact Alana Golden, California Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), 916-323-7012.

Original Sponsors:
Bank of America • FDIC • McCann Worldgroup • The PEW Charitable Trusts • United Way of the Bay Area • United Way AIRS • The Walter S. Johnson Foundation • Wachovia Bank • Visa Inc.
Local Sponsors:
AT&T • Bank of Sacramento • Boeing • Citibank • East West Bank • Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco • New America Foundation • Silicon Valley Bank • Silicon Valley Community Foundation • United Way California Capital Region • United Way of Fresno County • United Way of Greater LA • United Way of Orange County • United Way of Silicon Valley • United Way Stanislaus • Wells Fargo • Union Bank • Univision