San Francisco Unveils Program Created to Address Unbanked Residents

City leaders in San Francisco unveiled a program Thursday designed to encourage city residents to open bank accounts instead of patronizing check cashers and payday lenders.

The ?Bank on San Francisco? initiative is aimed directly at the city?s unbanked population, according to Mayor Gavin Newsom and Treasurer José Cisneros. “Over the next two years, we plan to bring 10,000 of the 50,000 unbanked San Francisco families into the financial mainstream so they can begin to save and build assets,” Newsom said at a press conderence. “We are the first city in the country to undertake such an initiative.”

Officials said that about a dozen banks in the area are participating in the program by offering special products and services to low-income residents.

The kickoff of the program was designed to coincide with the mailing of 11,595 checks totaling $2.3 million to San Francisco recipients of Working Family Credits. The hope is that rather than taking the checks to check cashers that charge exorbitant fees, the recipients will open their own bank accounts.