Rochester Beacon: Rochester launches initiative to address financial exclusion

Smriti Jacob, Rochester Beacon

The city of Rochester has joined the Bank On movement with its launch of Bank On Rochester. 

The initiative is aimed at ensuring that all city families have access to safe, affordable, and nationally certified accounts through banks or credit unions, officials say.

“Financial stability is the foundation of economic mobility,” says Mayor Malik Evans. “The certified Bank On Rochester checking accounts provide families with the flexibility to direct deposit their paycheck, pay bills faster, and receive tax returns in a safe way. “I want to thank our coalition partners for helping us create social and economic equity, which builds a safer, more prosperous city for everyone.” 

The Office of Financial Empowerment has brought together 29 banks, credit unions and community-based organizations in a coalition to address challenges faced by banked and underbanked residents. Its goal: greater financial stability and empowerment. 

Coalition members came to the table to discuss strategies to address financial exclusion, barriers to access, and opportunities for providing low- or no-fee checking accounts, the city says. Typically, such accounts are key to securing a financial foundation. 

Rochester has high rates of residents who are unbanked or underbanked, significantly impacting Black and Latino communities. Check-cashing locations, prepaid cards, and payday lending are common options, officials say. The Bank On Coalition is expected to connect individuals and families to certified checking accounts that are convenient, secure, and do not allow overdrafts. 

Rochester is one of 102 Bank On coalitions nationwide. The platform is maintained by the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, which established the Bank On National Account Standards. The latest report from the Bank On National Data Hub, which tracks findings from 2022, showed more than 17.4 million Bank On certified accounts have been opened by consumers across the county.  

Eighty-five percent of Bank On accounts opened in 2022 were by customers new to a financial institution, the report states. A majority of these account holders (81 percent) were digitally active.The data hub is a collaboration of the CFE Fund and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

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