Partner with VITA

Encouraging Banks to Partner with VITA

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Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is a law passed in 1977 that encourages banks and other financial institutions to help meet the credit needs of their communities, including low- and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods.

FDIC Link to More Info
FedCommunities.org CRA: Building Block for change--

Read this--(4 pages) encouraging banks to get involved with local VITA programs--its an oldie but still holds true and they keep republishing it.

This is a link to a Q & A on the CRA topic-most isn't relevant to us-- but check out pages 14, 25-26

Research from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shows that there are many reasons consumers lack a basic transaction account: not enough money for the minimum balance; distrust of financial institutions; high or unpredictable fees; or identification, credit or banking history problems. Many Americans are driven to use expensive alternative financial services, including check cashers, payday lenders, and pawn shops that charge high fees for financial services that fail to help people get ahead. Without a checking account, families wind up paying too much for basic financial transactions and are hard pressed to build savings and assets.
Quick Facts:

Close to 4.5% of U.S. households (approximately 5.9 million adults) are “unbanked,” without a checking or savings account.
Almost 14.1% of U.S. households (approximately 18.7 million adults) are underbanked, meaning they still use some fringe financial services.
Nearly 29.2% of unbanked and 38.1% of underbanked households earn less than $30,000 per year.
Nationally, 36% of Black households and 33.4% of Hispanic households are unbanked or underbanked, compared to less than 12% of white households.

The Solution:
The CFE Fund works directly with national and regional financial institutions to encourage the widespread availability of safe, low cost transactional products.One key challenge facing unbanked and underbanked individuals has been a lack of safe and appropriate accounts offered by mainstream financial institutions, particularly those without overdraft.
The CFE Fund has worked closely with the Bank On National Advisory Board and other key stakeholders to develop the Bank On National Account Standards. Inspired by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Model Safe Accounts Template, these standards provide local programs with a benchmark for account partnerships with financial institutions, including their local partners. Financial institutions with accounts that meet these Standards can apply free for national certification here.
The CFE Fund provides grant opportunities to support the capacity of local Bank On coalitions, and pilots effective banking access strategies, including municipal integration opportunities.

To learn more, and to see how you can become a part of BankOn click here

My coworker Dan created this summary for me to share

Here is a fabulous article on one successful partnership! Banks help Tulsa embrace a future that is equitable and successful for all

leadcenter.org/workforce-system-and-bank-partnerships-a-how-to-guide

A sample letter I started-- Do you have one?

My horribly written notes from a call I had with FDIC specialist--learning about CRA

10/6/23 Spoke with FDIC-Rhonda L. Little, MBA, CRCM; Community Affairs Specialist, Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Cell: 765-307-0845; [email protected] --we were connected by her counterpart—I had seen they had in Jan 2022 a VITA CRA Bank meeting—was curious if they were going to do more and if they were going to update the FIL 97-2007 –while still good—old date
- They have a meeting trying to schedule 1/2024 (Bank On and UW Suncoast)--
- To address banks—use specific quotes from CRA Q&A 2016– there are 4 criteria they must meet to be considered by FDIC
  - Consider.. if you help us…
  - Use you expertise to man/support…
  - Use your bank knowledge to…
  - Funds must be earmarked for VITA to count as ‘low to moderate’ count
  - Try to mirror examples provided in Q & A
    - This will help …
    - How…
    - Appears to align with example…
    - I looked at the CRA Q&A and What we are doing appears to align with xyz possibly considered under.. get rating/credit….
  - Banks need credits to expand/open new branch
  - Volunteering with VITA, supporting us with $$ for split savings will fall under community service bullet— helping low to moderate income people..
    - Help encourage tax time savings/ stewardship savings?
    - They need safe low cost accounts
      - Research/report low income people have been charged $40K over course of a life in bank fees (overdraft)--this could have been a house, or an inheritance, generational gift.. : (
- Add us to mailing list
- Bank Find—has real time data—comprehensive list
- Partner for next year—I requested Oct/Nov instead Jan/Feb.. we wills see

Other:
Banking Deserts Dashboard-are you in a banking desert?

Do you have information to add to this page?
Have you done something that was successful?
Please share for me and others-and thanks! [email protected]

​Encouraging Banks to ​Partner with VITA

Encouraging Banks to Partner with VITA