Program aims to help low-income Angelenos open bank accounts

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today announced a new initiative aimed at helping at least 10,000 low-income households open bank accounts at mainstream financial institutions every year.

Villaraigosa said at a news conference this morning that nearly 300,000 households in Los Angeles do not have checking or savings accounts, and a single households spends up to $1,000 a year in check cashing fees and other transactions that are normally free at a bank. The new program is called Bank on Los Angeles.

"Bank on L.A. will offer all Angelenos the tools [to] open bank accounts, save for the future, climb another rung on the economic ladder and punch their ticket to economic growth for years to come," Villaraigosa said.

Banks that have signed up with the program, including Bank of America, Citibank and Kinecta Federal Credit Union, have agreed to waive regular checking account fees or offer low-cost accounts for participants. The program will include a bilingual marketing and education campaign touting the benefits of opening checking accounts and describing how the banking system works.

Officials said some people do not have bank accounts because they lack a Social Security number. To resolve that issue, participating banks will accept other forms of recognized identification, including the matricula consular, an identification card issued by the Mexican government.

-- Alexandra Zavis

Comments

[alex lambrinides]

sure, let's accept the entire population of Mexico and, well OK the entire Latin America since we are now spending in the trillions. This is America where we have unlimited tax payers and resources. Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Let's have a party!

[Legal Self Reliant Citizen]

"Officials said some people do not have bank accounts because they lack a Social Security number. To resolve that issue, participating banks will accept other forms of recognized identification, including the matricula consular (easliy faked), an identification card issued by the Mexican government (even easier to fake).

Why not call it what it really is, "Illegal Immigrant Bank"

When I came to LA, I was low income (actually NO income) and I did it myself, without any of your help Tony V.! Continue to turn LA into a 3rd World City. You make even bad politicians look good.

[Fabricio]

Bank Of America opens accounts to ilegal aliens. Their motto was changed to 'Bank of opportunity'. Not that I am for or against ilegal aliens... it just seems unbelievable that a bank would do business with a person that is ilegal and it's legal for the bank to do so... but then again... after all banks have been funking up lately this could be seen as a helping hand...

[Amy]

Let's say that an undocumented migrant does open a checking account with a fake ID card. Why do you care? That doesn't harm anybody, and it does the person who would otherwise spend a chunk of their meager earnings on check cashing fees a world of good. This anti-immigrant hysteria is truly blinding.

[Legal Self Reliant Citizen]

"This anti-immigrant hysteria is truly blinding."

Amy, it is ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT and its not hysteria. I don't know many people that are anti-immigration, but I sure know many like you that take things out of context and like to see legislation and programs based on feelings and not on law and principle.

The Mayor is only doing this to appease the ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT activist groups (that he was part of) and expand his political power base.

[Feeling That]

And we ignore the loss of business to these check cashing businesses?? How ignorant an idea is this to impact free enterprise and force costs on larger financial institutions that will absorb the work without creating employment opportunities?

It's a bit like Pooling which is used in Public Utilities (taxdollar subsidies) and Health Insurance where the costs of overusers and deadbeats are spread across the people equally. The check cashing enterprises kept these high risk clients out of the major financial institutions and the rest of us don't get drained for any fraud, abuse or overdrafts.
Another "bend over, courtesy of Villar"

What a way to gain votes, Villaraigosa! If they are undocumented, they can't vote for you.