Banking on Opportunity: A Scan on the Evolving Field of Bank On Initiatives

This report was prepared to provide background on the “Bank On” model, a new approach for expanding access to safe, affordable financial services for unbanked households. The purpose of this report is to describe the landscape of Bank On programs, their origins, and their context within a broader financial access field. The report provides basic information about Bank On programs that currently exist, including information about program structure, partnerships, and funding as well as an assessment of successes, challenges, special considerations and gaps in the field. Information for this report comes from several sources: a Bank On program survey, research and information gathered for NLC’s publication, Bank On Cities: Connecting Residents to the Financial Mainstream, research and analysis from CFED’s forthcoming publication on the role of financial institutions in Bank On programs, conversations with Bank On program staff and research from experts in the field, including the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI), the New America Foundation, the Brookings Institution, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and others. The report describes the overall financial access field, the emergence and growth of Bank On initiatives, details about the structure of existing programs, direct and indirect benefits and outcomes, key components of successful programs, challenges facing the Bank On field, and opportunities for expanding the reach and effectiveness of Bank On within the context of comprehensive financial access initiatives.