(EVANSVILLE, IN) – Bank on Evansville representatives will be in Washington, D.C. tomorrow to participate in a two-day summit, hosted by the U.S. Department of Treasury and the National League of Cities’ Institute for Youth, Education, and Families, to discuss practices from the “Bank On†field. Evansville was selected to attend this invitation-only event because of its leadership in promoting access to the financial mainstream for underserved residents.
Patty Avery, who helped launch Bank on Evansville as Program Manager, and Emily Baxter, Community Impact Manager for the United Way of Southwestern Indiana, will be representing the City of Evansville at the summit which will provide opportunities for local, state and national experts to share information about “Bank On†practices and lessons learned. This information will also help shape national policy to promote financial access and financial education for low-to moderate income families.
“I am gratified that ‘Bank on Evansville’ is being called upon, once again, to share the lessons learned as we implemented the program,†said Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel. “Bank On†has been able to help people in our community keep more of their hard-earned cash instead of paying high interest rates to check cashers. Our hope is that by helping other cities, many more people will realize how they can benefit by joining the financial mainstream.â€
Evansville was the third city in the nation and the first in Indiana to implement the “Bank on Cities†model. Our program helped shape how the State of Indiana and other cities across the state are implementing their “Bank On†initiatives. We were also tapped to help with “Bank On†launches in Ohio and Kentucky. In addition, the National League of Cities reports that Evansville achieved the fastest program launch and we are pace setters when it comes to financial education.
“Bank on Evansville†was developed as a response to the high cost of basic financial services for individuals and families who don’t have a checking or savings account. The program’s goal is to measurably improve the lives of our City’s low-to-moderate income residents through better access to the financial mainstream and financial education. Bank on Evansville accounts are low cost/no cost, have no minimum balance and offer a second chance for people that have had previous trouble with banking; fraud is the exception. We have 15 financial partners- both banks and credit unions- in Evansville.
Initiated in June 2008, Bank on Evansville opened 1,139 accounts in its first year. Our two year goal was to open 1,200 accounts.
