Ownership & Assets

“I just don't think there's any consequence to getting it wrong,” said Baker, during a talk at the New America Foundation in April 2003. ...

After their children's college savings accounts lost 38 percent of their value last year, some Illinois parents might be seeing some justice soon. The Illinois Treasurer's office recently reached a tentative deal with Oppenheimer funds to recover $77 million of the $85 million in losses.

There are 40 million persons living in the U.S. who lack a bank account. Many of these "unbanked" individuals lack sufficient identification necessary to meet banks' customer identification verification procedures, which are required by the Bank Secrecy (BSA) and USA PATRIOT Acts. Research shows that insufficient identification is one of the top three reasons for account denial and that customers who are denied a bank account once often do not return to a bank again.

The Passageway Account Proposal

Two of the three essential elements that comprise good financial services policy are robust consumer protections and effective safety and soundness laws.  The third component is policy that supports consumers' access to reasonably priced financial services.  This presentation, given at the 2009 FDIC Interagency Conference on Economic Inclusion, explores the necessary balance that must be struck to among the three elements to craft effective financial services policy, and it describes two federal policy proposals to provide underserved consumers with access… more

The New America Foundation and Appleseed hosted a timely roundtable discussion on a proposed policy aimed at clearing the path for opening basic bank accounts for immigrants and those who are new to the financial system. Participants included counsel and compliance officers of banks, prepaid firms and financial institution processors, representatives of nonprofits serving immigrant families, delegates from the Mexican Embassy and public policy experts.

According to New America Foundation, 38% of all households are in a state of asset poverty, in that they lack liquid financial resources to support their ...

“The SaveNYC account is a meaningful innovation,” said Reid Cramer, director of the asset building program of the New America Foundation, a progressive ...

Seidman, now a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, said she created an award for the best bank examiner on consumer affairs and compliance issues ... and more »

In Reid Cramer's interview with WNYC, Mr. Cramer says, "Current policy does a very poor job of helping these families build up small pools of resources especially that they can draw upon flexibly. So there's a real need for short term savings for emergencies." ... Original Article