Last week, I sat in on a small but very important celebration here at City Hall. Representatives from 10 cities across the country were gathered for a briefing on financial literacy and how best to help low income residents build financial assets. In the photo to the left, Councilmember Sally Clark has just presented books on Seattle, suitable for table-topping, to leaders of the city coalition.
Here's an interesting set of facts: Seattle has approximately 28,000 households without bank accounts. In 2008, city government helped launch a program called "Bank on Seattle." Sally led the charge and has represented the City Council in this effort to create financial literacy and stability. Twenty-two financial institutions in Seattle have signed on and offer special programs and services that provide education, encouragement, and appropriate entry-points for households without bank accounts. In the first year, 3,500 people were enrolled and opened a bank account. They are on the road to financial stability and asset building.
San Francisco is one of the 10 cities across the country with a similar program. The head of their program acknowledged at last week's briefing that our 22 financial institution partners was significantly more than he had in San Francisco. Nice! But, hey, we're not competitive.