Chicago Chinatown Model Site

The Chicago Chinatown Model Site is a coalition of banks, private sector companies, non-profit community-based groups, and government agencies. The Coalition conducted a survey of Chinatown residents, community leaders and business owners to determine the need for financial education classes and identify which financial topics would be of most interest. Money Smart modules Bank on it, Check it out, Borrowing Basics, Pay Yourself First, To Your Credit and Your Own Home are made available through a workshop that is offered on a monthly basis. The Chicago Chinese community was the first in the nation to adopt FDIC's Money Smart curriculum for Chinese language instruction.

Partners

Two members of the coalition, American Metro Bank and Lakeside Bank, were designated as certifying acceptance agents by the IRS in 2003 to issue Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) to residents of the Chinatown community. ITINs provide immigrants with a non-traditional form of identification, allowing them to open mainstream bank accounts in this country. For a listing of model site partners please select Financial Institutions or Other Partners.

Accomplishments

• To date, over 300 people have taken Money Smart classes in Chinese.
  
  
• During the Chicago Federal Reserve's 2005 Money Smart Week, over 50 people were taught "To Your Credit" and "Your Own Home" in Chinese. Money Smart Week is a group of more than 40 Chicago-area organizations working together to promote personal financial literacy.