Earlier this month, the CFE Fund released our new report ,  An Evaluation of Financial Empowerment Centers: Building People's Financial Stability As a Public Service, a three-year evaluation of the Financial Empowerment Center initiative's replication in 5 cities (Denver, CO; Lansing, MI; Nashville, TN; Philadelphia, PA and San Antonio, TX). The evaluation draws on data from 22,000 clients who participated in 57,000 counseling sessions, and provides additional evidence of the program's success. Read the full evaluation here, and register now to join us for a series of short webinars on different aspects of the evaluation and the model.

New Funding Opportunity: With generous support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the CFE Fund released a new funding opportunity to assist the next wave of as many as 12 local government partners looking to plan how to bring the Financial Empowerment Center model of free, professional, one-on-one financial counseling/coaching to their residents. Interested local governments can apply now; the CFE Fund will also be holding an informational webinar about the RFP opportunity today at 2:00 PM EST. The CFE Fund will also support a new Affiliates Network that will bring together cities, counties, states, and nonprofit organizations who provide other government-connected models of free financial counseling and coaching, learning from these experiences to further the professionalizing of the field. Apply now to be one of the next FEC planning cities or to join the FEC Affiliates Network.  

To bring a Financial Empowerment Center to your city, contact Tamara Lindsay, Principal.

The CFE Fund's CityStart initiative helps city leaders develop broad financial empowerment strategies, based on municipal goals, and then create implementation blueprints. CityStart offers mayors and their administrations a way to identify financial empowerment goals, convene key stakeholders, develop actionable strategies, and ultimately craft an implementation blueprint that is rooted in local insights and that prioritizes sustainability.

In partnership with Deutsche Bank, the CFE Fund recently began a CityStart engagement with the City of Syracuse, NY. As is typical for a CityStart engagement, the first phase of this work was a municipal financial empowerment "boot camp" that brought together key local constituencies, which was held in April. Based on issues identified in the boot camp, as well as mayoral priorities, the CFE Fund is working with city partners on a second phase, strategic implementation planning, which builds off the momentum of the boot camp and will include an integration and funding blueprint.

To bring a CityStart bootcamp to your city, contact Tamara Lindsay, Principal.

By Grovetta Gardineer

Senior Deputy Comptroller, Compliance and Community Affairs

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Grovetta Gardineer represents the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which regulates national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches of foreign banks. The OCC ensures a safe and sound banking system and encourages national banks and federal savings associations to provide fair access to financial services and treat their customers fairly. The OCC's Office of Compliance and Community Affairs brings together policy and supervision expertise, and community outreach covering areas of consumer compliance, fair lending, and the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Ms. Gardineer's remarks at the CFE Fund's 2017 Bank On National Conference are abridged below. 

Safe and sound banking operations and fair treatment of customers are interdependent and necessary to the stability and vitality of the financial system. To remain competitive in a changing environment, banks are looking at new ways to expand fair access to banking services, including for potential customers who are currently outside the financial mainstream. 

The OCC's Community Affairs department works with banks and community leaders to help improve the financial lives of low- and moderate-income individuals. Through the Bank On coalition, banks that offer responsible financial services work together with local governments and community-based organizations on savings initiatives to help unbanked and underbanked consumers become economically stable, develop positive financial management habits, and make better financial choices. 

For example, consumer organizations that help seniors or lower income individuals prepare tax returns through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program can partner with banks that will open low- or no-cost bank accounts with a tax refund check so unbanked households who live paycheck-to-paycheck can start saving. Banks that offer individual development accounts, or IDAs, can partner with government agencies, private sector, or nonprofit programs that match IDA deposits, which encourage lower-income individuals to save for a home, further their education, or form a small business. 

Initiatives can help younger adults take the first step of a lifelong path toward positive financial management. The "Summer Jobs Connect" program developed by the CFE Fund offers workers the opportunity to deposit their paychecks into a low-cost bank account and participate in financial literacy programs. These are just a few examples of how banks are working with community partners to expand financial access. 

It is simply good business for banks to find new and better ways to offer financial services. The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) gives banks another motive to innovate. Recent CRA guidance addresses innovation and flexibility in an institution's lending practices and how new developments, such as the use of alternative credit histories, or mobile and online banking services are considered in the evaluation process. When considering the availability and effectiveness of retail services CRA examiners look at factors, such as ease of access, whether physical or virtual; cost to consumers; the range of services delivered; the ease of use; the rate of adoption; and the system's reliability. 

CRA guidance specifically lists financial services that may benefit low- and moderate-income individuals, including low-cost bank accounts; free or low-cost government, payroll, or other check-cashing services; IDAs; school savings programs; and reasonably priced international remittances. Grants to counseling organizations that help low- and moderate-income individuals build financial management capabilities also earn CRA consideration. 

Expanding financial access for low- and moderate-income people through fintech innovation, creative new products, or partnerships with community initiatives, such as Bank On, are all ways that banks can promote financial access and live up to CRA's spirit and purpose.