About Bank On
As a collaborative effort between financial institutions, community organizations, and local, state, and federal government partners , Bank On aims to provide access to safe and affordable banking services for everyone, including those who have been traditionally underserved or excluded from the mainstream financial system.
A safe bank or credit union account is fundamental to financial stability. The Bank On National Account Standards provide a national benchmark for safe, affordable checking accounts; Bank On certified accounts have low or no monthly costs, no overdraft or non-sufficient funds fees, the ability to pay bills and make purchases, and are federally insured. There are more than 450 Bank On certified accounts available across the country. By eliminating barriers such as overdraft fees and high balance requirements, and working with local partners to connect people to these accounts at scale, Bank On aims to ensure that individuals have equal opportunities to access and benefit from essential financial services.
A safe banking account can help consumers keep control of their money, avoid surprise fees, and take an important step towards a stronger financial future - a key goal of the programs that AidKit supports.
The Bank On movement is led by the national nonprofit Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund.
Partnership with AidKit
AidKit’s software platform supports the end to end program administration for direct cash initiatives like guaranteed basic income, wage subsidies, direct rental assistance, emergency disaster relief and more. AidKit offers program participants the ability to choose between direct deposit (ACH), physical debit, or virtual debit cards, with many opportunities to further customize payment pathways for our customers and the participants they serve.
Providing program participants with choice is a fundamental tenet of delivering aid with dignity. Further, for programs that have high dollar value cash transfers, bank or credit union accounts can be important building blocks towards sustainable financial resiliency for many individuals, helping participants avoid high fees just for accessing and using their own money and begin a relationship with a mainstream financial institution. Direct cash initiatives aim to financially stabilize program participants and ensuring that the payments themselves are delivered in a financially stabilizing way is critical. There is a lot of misinformation floating around about who can be banked here in the US, and about the ins and outs of what having a bank account means for an individual’s financial self sufficiency. Additionally, navigating what a “good” account looks like can be difficult for local partners; the Bank On National Account Standards are a national, validated benchmark for safe, affordable, and appropriate accounts, with certified accounts available at over 46,000 branches in all 50 states.
Bank On certified accounts can safely support an individual’s journey from unbanked to banked, without the risks of high fees but with all the features consumers need to fully participate in the mainstream financial system.
Customized Bank On information is now available to AidKit partners and program administrators as part of the cash transfer program design process. From in-application resources to encourage people to learn more about the options available to them in opening an account, to custom landing pages with resources that have been hyper-localized to support program participants in understanding what certified safe accounts are in their area and make account opening accessible , Bank On and AidKit are working to ensure that people without an existing checking account understand why, how, and where to take control of their financial future.
Direct Impact
AidKit has supported more than 50 direct cash transfer programs across the US, and, with collaboration from program administrators, has incorporated Bank On language and resources into many of them. In each instance, when Bank On’s enablement resources are embedded into the workflow of a program application and enrollment process we see a significant increase in the number of program participants who choose ACH as their desired method of payment. Programs like Illinois Stability Investment for Family Housing (SIFH) Pilot and Ventura County’s Thrive saw close to a 24% increase from banked to unbanked and we expect these trends to continue.
For more information about how the partnership between Bank On and AidKit can support your program please get in touch with our partnerships team via this link.
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