Bank Accounts for Immigrants

California is starting the nation’s largest, most ambitious effort by a state government to enable people, especially immigrants and the poor, to open and maintain bank accounts. The New York Times reports:

The program, Bank on California will seek to create 100,000 accounts over two years among residents here and in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Fresno. It is based on a two-year trial in San Francisco, where 31,000 accounts were opened by first-time users.

Under the program, more than 30 banks and credit unions will receive grants from the William J. Clinton Foundation to enable them to offer residents low- or no-fee accounts, to train them how to use banks and in many cases to waive overdraft fees the first few times.

Many of the “unbanked,” as those in the finance world refer to people lacking accounts, are immigrants who fear doing business with commercial banks, or people who have a history of accumulating so many overdraft, below-minimum-balance and other fees that they end up forfeiting their accounts.