Community Affairs:

Eastern Regional Conference on Reaching Unbanked People
October 4, 2007
City University of New York Graduate Center
New York, New York

On October 4, 2007, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Federal Reserve Banks of New York, Philadelphia and Richmond - with the help of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs Office of Financial Empowerment - held the Eastern Conference on Reaching Unbanked People.

Welcoming Remarks and Conference Overview (Dan Iannicola, Jr., Anna Escobedo Cabral, Jonathan Mintz, Lul Berhane)
Plenary 1: Unbanked Overview (Cassy Gleason, Lee Bowman, Melissa Koide)
Concurrent Session 1: Second Change for Financial Services (Lynette Bell-Ndiaye, Chiquita Board, Lenore McKenna)
Concurrent Session 2: Reaching Youth (Pamela Foster, David Isaac, Katherine Shoemaker, Justine Zinkin)
Concurrent Session 3: Reaching Immigrant Markets (Pablo DeFillipi, Linda Armyn, Deyanira Del Rio)
Concurrent Session 4: Building Community Financial Institutions (Tanya Branch, Luis Pastor)
Concurrent Session 5: Asset Building and Financial Access (Rita Eygabroad, Yonki Tschering)
Plenary 2: What Can We Learn From Alternative Lenders? (Michael B. Griffin, Larrey Riddle, Michael Wishnow)

Welcoming Remarks and Conference Overview:

Panelists discussed how participating in the financial mainstream was a way for Americans to gain access to a better and more stable life, and thereby help communities and country as a whole.

Dan Iannicola, Jr.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Education
US Department of the Treasury

Mr. Iannicola Jr. welcomed conference participants and spoke about recent strides and continued challenges of helping the unbanked access appropriate financial services.

Anna Escobedo Cabral
Treasurer of the United States
US Department of the Treasury

Ms. Cabral encouraged conference participants to work together, creatively, in addressing problems of the underserved. To read her remarks click here.

Jonathan Mintz
Commissioner
New York City Department of Consumer Affairs

Mr. Mintz spoke about the role of local government in helping low-income people gain access to financial services and the City of New York's pilot program.

Lul Berhane
Representing New York Association for New Americans

Ms. Berhane told her story as a refugee finding challenges in saving in the U.S. banking system and her success in finally owning a home.

Plenary 1: Unbanked Overview.

Panelists described different approaches to delivering products and services to unbanked people.

Cassy Gleason, Director, Community Affairs Unit, New York State Department of Banking, spoke about how the New York State Department of Banking helps to promote the location of bank branches in underserved markets through its Banking Development Districts initiative. To see her presentation, click here.
Lee Bowman, National Coordinator, Community Affairs, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation discussed how the FDIC is helping to assist financial institutions to reach underserved markets through financial education and product development. The see his presentation, click here.
Melissa Koide, Associate Director, Financial Services and Education Project, New America Foundation described recently-released research linking the provision of financial education to savings, particularly through non-profit community-based programs. To see her presentation, click here.

Concurrent Session 1: Second Chance for Financial Services

Panelists discussed strategies and perspectives for helping the unbanked and underbanked get into mainstream banking. The speakers began with the premise that retail bank accounts provide consumers with the means to not only cash checks, pay bills, and save, but they are fundamental to a household's ability to accumulate assets and build wealth.

Lynette Bell-Ndiaye, First Vice President, Suntrust Banks Inc. spoke about her bank's strategies for working with customers with bank account problems and its participation in the Get Checking Program.
Chiquita Board, National Education Director, Get Checking, EFD/eFunds Corporation, spoke about the "Get Checking" program, a national financial education program designed to help consumers establish a primary banking relationship. To see this presentation, click here.
Lenore McKenna, Executive Director, Charleston Area Community Development Corporation, in South Carolina, spoke about strategies for educating unbanked persons to make good financial decisions and to build wealth through savings and homeownership.

Concurrent Session 2: Reaching Youth

Panelists described approaches to educate youth about financial services and how educating youth can be a way to bring parents into financial institutions.

Pamela Foster, Vice President, Community Development, Fifth Third Bank, described Fifth Third Bank's youth mentoring program in Columbus, Ohio. To see her handout about the youth mentoring program, click here.
David Isaac, Vice President/Branch Manager, North Fork Bank along with LaKia Williams described North Fork Bank's partnership with a Bronx, New York high school.
Katherine Shoemaker, Director, Policy and Special Projects, Harlem Children's Zone described the Harlem Children's Zone's Young Harlem Investors savings initiative. To see her presentation, click here.
Justine Zinkin, Executive Director, Credit Where Credit is Due described the school branches of the Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union and the credit union's adult financial education initiatives. To see her presentation, click here.

Concurrent Session 3: Reaching Immigrant Markets

Panelists covered issues and strategies common to serving diverse immigrant communities.

Pablo DeFillipi, Associate Director, Membership Development National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions gave an overview of strategies of new and existing credit unions to serve the Latino market. To see his presentation, click here.
Linda Armyn, Vice President, Corporate Development and Government Affairs, Bethpage Credit Union described efforts of her institution to learn about the needs of the new Latino population in the suburban communities served by the credit union, and how they are partnering with key community organizations to deliver services to that market. To see her presentation, click here.
Deyanira Del Rio, Associate Director, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project discussed her organization's recent survey of the financial needs of approximately 600 New York City immigrants. To see this presentation, click here.

Concurrent Session 4: Building Community Financial Institutions

Panelists described strategies for providing a community-based financial institution to provide needed services.

Tanya Branch, Vice President, North Carolina Minority Support Center, described the efforts of her organization to support existing small credit unions, serving mainly rural communities, by centralizing their back-office operations, and providing technical assistance and funding. To see her presentation, click here.
Luis Pastor, President and CEO, Latino Community Credit Union described the origin and growth of Latino Community Credit Union in North Carolina, one of the nation's fastest growing credit unions. Mr. Pastor described the ability to meet the cultural needs of the market, and the importance of partnerships in growing the credit union. To see his presentation, click here.

Concurrent Session 5: Asset Building and Financial Access

Panelists discussed asset building initiatives to connect low-income people to financial institutions and build long-term savings and financial relationships.

Rita Eygabroad, C.A.S.H. Director, Empire Justice Center described the initiative in Rochester, New York, which includes outreach on the Earned Income Tax Credit, and access to free tax preparation assistance. The initiative seeks to take advantage of the tax return preparation moment to build assets and provide financial information and education. To see her presentation, click here.
Yonki Tschering, Vice President, New York Association for New Americans Business Center described the asset building programs provided by her organization, including microenterprise assistance, homebuyer assistance, and individual development accounts. To see this presentation, click here.

Plenary 2: What can we learn from alternative lenders?

Panelists discussed various approaches to providing affordable, needed financial products and services and how such products can build relationships with unbanked individuals.

Michael B. Griffin, Senior Vice President, Community Development Banking, Key Bank described Key Bank's experiment with providing check cashing and other transaction services to non-customers. To see his presentation, click here.
Amy Herlehy, Director, New York State Community Development, Citizens Bank described a low-cost short-term loan product available for home improvements. To see her presentation, click here.
Larrey Riddle, Program Manager, Employee Advantage Lending Initiative, Mountain Association for Community Economic Development explained a new pilot to provide alternatives to pay-day loans in conjunction with financial education and counseling, through employer relationships. To see his presentation, click here.
Michael Wishnow, Senior Vice President, Communications, Pennsylvania Credit Union Association discussed the new Credit Union Better Choice Program developed for credit unions in the state. To see his presentation, click here.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency was created by Congress to charter national banks, to oversee a nationwide system of banking institutions, and to assure that national banks are safe and sound, competitive and profitable, and capable of serving in the best possible manner the banking needs of their customers.