Thrive Together: By valuing and leveraging the talent of migrants, equitable cities create opportunities for all residents
Too many migrants who live and work in cities remain “unbanked.” Without a bank account, they cannot access basic financial services, like credit, or asset-building instruments, such as loans for a car, small business or home mortgage. A challenge to all vulnerable residents and small businesses, inadequate access to capital poses an even bigger challenge to immigrants.
Greater access to bank accounts and digital cash card programs are critical for enabling migrants to integrate and contribute to their host communities. By creating programs that support different categories of “unbanked” residents, cities can unlock economic potential for all, reducing competition, and creating many co-benefits that arise from a more financially empowered community.
Examples from the 100RC Network
San Francisco — Bank On San Francisco
The city of San Francisco launched Bank On San Francisco to improve access to mainstream financial services among the financially excluded, including some categories of undocumented immigrants. The program is a partnership of various local bodies including the San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE), the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and EARN (Earned Assets Resource Network), as well as local financial institutions and community-based organizations. Banks and credit unions that participate in the program allow individuals with little or no banking history to open no- or low-fee accounts with no minimum balance, have their first overdraft charges waived as they learn how to bank, and receive financial education. One particularly unique feature of the program is that is allows Mexican Matricula and Guatemalan Consular ID cards to be used as primary identification for opening accounts.
Practitioner Resources
San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment, National League of Cities, and James Irvine Foundation
Joinbankon.orgThe OFE and NLC (with support from the James Irvine Foundation) created a web portal “joinbankon.org,” offering tools and resources for cities planning Bank On programs. It includes tools to help cities conduct surveys of the financial habits and needs of households in their communities, the institutions available to serve them, and local capacity to undertake a Bank On initiative. For example, the “Research Your Community” tool provides estimates of the number of unbanked and underbanked households in a community, and, with a mapping tool, shows the neighborhoods where those households aggregate.
Digital Finance Institute
Banking On RefugeesThe Digital Finance Institute launched the “Banking on Refugees’” project to develop a cloud-based branchless bank focused on the distinct needs of refugees. This involves a test pilot with digital payment solutions for refugees, with biometric identification for government agencies and NGOs that complies with global anti-money laundering laws.
100RC Platform Partner in Action
MasterCard — Cashless Assistance Program
Working with public and non-profit partners, 100RC Platform Partner MasterCard has empowered more than 2.5 million vulnerable people, the vast majority of them being refugees and internally displaced persons. These programs have used the MasterCard Aid Network’s humanitarian prepaid and remittance services for faster, safer, and more efficient aid distribution. As part of this effort, the company has partnered with the global organization Mercy Corps to distribute prepaid debit cards to eligible refugees traveling through Serbia and Greece. Beneficiaries receive cards to make purchases that help them cover their basic needs. Cards provide greater flexibility than cash, reduce fraud, and more efficiently deliver money to the right hands. These types of programs infuse cash into the economy and markets of the communities that are hosting refugees. Based on the belief that financially integrated individuals have greater chances for success, MasterCard has committed to collaborating with public and private organizations to further investigate how vulnerable and marginalized groups, including refugees, can more easily access vital financial services.
