11,000 Unbanked Join CUs

SAN FRANCISCO - More than 11,000 of the unbanked residents here have joined credit unions or taken out bank accounts through the fledgling "Bank on San Francisco" program, city officials announced. As a result, the city treasurer's office has doubled its goal for 2008 and now hopes to open as many as 20,000 new accounts for unbanked residents. The program targeted the estimated 50,000 households in San Francisco that have neither a checking nor a savings account, representing 15% of city residents. Participating financial institutions include: Mission Area FCU, Community FCU, Patelco CU, San Francisco FCU, Spectrum FCU, as well as Bank of the West, Wells Fargo, US Bank, Washington Mutual, Union Bank, United Commercial Bank, and Sterling Bank and Trust. (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com