S.F.'s 'second chance' banking going national San Francisco Chronicle
Tyrone Hopper, a Navy veteran who works at a Safeway deli counter in San Francisco's Sunset neighborhood, can now rent a car, pay his bills online and withdraw money at an automated teller machine.
That wasn't the case four years ago, and Hopper credits an innovative city program that has helped thousands of San Franciscans with low incomes and credit problems open bank accounts and get debit cards rather than use expensive check-cashing services.
Now President Obama's administration is looking at taking the program nationwide.
The president has included $50 million in his 2011 fiscal year budget for a federal program modeled on Bank on San Francisco. Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin is to meet with Mayor Gavin Newsom, city Treasurer Jose Cisneros and others today in San Francisco to discuss how to design and implement a national program, officials said.
"It's one of the single most important things we can be doing in terms of fighting poverty," Newsom said. "You can talk about income all you want. But you've got to focus on assets if you're going to get serious on eliminating poverty."
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