Banking Under the Mattress: Financial Literacy and Unbanked New Yorkers

A new FDIC study finds that seven of every 20 New York households is “underbanked.”  In most cases, these are low-income, minority and single-parent households that either have no bank accounts or rely heavily on alternative financial services such as payday lenders and pawn shops. Such families can pay exorbitant fees and interest, are at greater risk of robbery, and often can’t borrow because they have no credit history. New York and other cities and states are experimenting with solutions, including low- or no-fee community banking services and financial literacy campaigns. What works? And what should government, nonprofits and the banking sector do now?

With: Jonathan Mintz, Commissioner, New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, presenting new data on the unbanked in New York

And: Cathie Mahon, Executive Directo, NYC Office of Financial Empowerment Deyanira Del Rio, Associate Director, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP) Edward Kramer, Executive Vice President, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services Leslie Parrish, Senior Researcher, The Center for Responsible Lending

Moderator: Dean Starkman, managing editor of the Columbia Journalism Review’s The Audit 

[youtube width="640" height="360"]http://youtu.be/gWV5zfezcbA[/youtube]

Supported by the Sirus Fund and the Milano Foundation.