FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bill
Mills, Bank On Florida Director
Leslie
Johnson, City of Lauderhill
ljohnson@Lauderhill-fl.gov, 954-739-0100
__________________________________________
Mayor Kaplan
Announces Launch of Bank On Lauderhill
Program Aimed at Improving Financial Futures
for Half of Lauderhill’s Residents
Lauderhill,
Fla. (May 8, 2015) – Lauderhill Mayor Richard J. Kaplan, in
collaboration with local nonprofits, financial institutions, and Florida
Prosperity Partnership, will be announcing the launch of Bank On Lauderhill, a public-private partnership among the area’s
regional financial institutions and community-based organizations aimed at
increasing the financial stability of the “unbanked” and “underbanked.”
This announcement will
happen at a special Bank On Lauderhill
Financial Fair being held at Lauderhill
6-12, 1901 NW 49th Ave., Lauderhill,
on Thursday, May 14, 2015 at 7 p.m.
Over half of Lauderhill
residents are either unbanked (no checking or savings account) or underbanked
(have an account, but frequently use alternative financial services, like
check-cashing stores). It’s estimated that a full-time worker without a bank
account spends $40,000 over the course of a lifetime just to cash paychecks. In Lauderhill, 18.4% of households don’t have
bank accounts – surpassing the national average of 7.7%. Likewise, 31.9% are underbanked – topping the national average of 20.0
percent. This equates to over 12,000 households in the city.
A few reasons that people
cite for not having a bank account include minimum balance requirements, difficulties
with an account in the past, lack of appropriate identification, and feeling
they don’t have enough money or don’t write enough checks. Bank On Florida has worked to reduce or eliminate those barriers.
Participating financial institutions will offer accounts with no or low minimum
balance, no or low monthly maintenance fee, and free basic online services.
Most partners will make a reasonable effort to open an account even if an
individual has had difficulties with an account in the past, such as unpaid
overdraft fees. Several partners will also accept alternative forms of
identification.
Mayor Kaplan stated, “It is
extremely important that our residents are able to develop and maintain a
banking relationship to help them handle their financial affairs. Without it, our residents will have a
difficult time trying to grow their savings and properly provide for the
financial future.”
Bank
On Lauderhill was modeled after the Bank On Florida blueprint
created by Florida Prosperity Partnership.
The Bank On program, originally
started in San Francisco, has spread throughout the country and is based on a
collaborative effort with local communities and their financial institutions,
local governments, and community-based and nonprofit organizations, like the United Way of Broward County.
“A successful relationship
starts when a financially educated client is able to choose from a variety of
checking and savings account options,” said Bill Mills, Bank On Florida Director and Florida
Prosperity Partnership Vice President. “This initiative provides families
with reliable choices being offered by banks and credit unions that care about
the communities in which they operate.”
For a media kit of Bank On Lauderhill materials, visit http://lauderhill-fl.gov/economic-development/bank-on-lauderhill or for more information on Bank On Lauderhill, visit http://www.BankOnLauderhill.com.
______________________________
About
Florida Prosperity Partnership
The Florida Prosperity Partnership (FPP) is a statewide collaboration
dedicated to improving the financial stability for low-to-moderate income
Floridians. Established in the fall of 2008, the FPP includes over 500 partner
organizations from all sectors of Florida. For more information, please contact
Bill Mills, Vice President at 321-209-4377.
No comments:
Post a Comment