People who don't have bank accounts pay dearly for it.
• Full-time workers without a checking account pay $40 on average every time they cash a paycheck.
• Over a lifetime, the average full-time worker without a bank account spends more than $40,000 on these fees, according to a January Brookings Institution report.
• That same study indicates that 47 percent of California households do not have a savings account; 11 percent have no checking account.
Former President Bill Clinton will be in Sacramento today to officially launch, with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the nation's first statewide initiative to help the unbanked get starter bank accounts.
The new Bank on California program is based on a model program started in San Francisco two years ago. Banks and credit unions have changed their account features to make it easier for people to start an account – waiving minimum balance requirements, accepting alternative forms of identification, using trusted messengers (such as nonprofits and government) to reach out to people, and offering financial education classes.
In two years, nearly 25,000 people who previously had no checking or savings account now have bank accounts with an average balance of $980.
This agenda of economic inclusion comes at a key time for struggling families – and it's a fabulous way to launch a new culture of savings in California.
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