California banking bill to offer free services amid COVID-19 latimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from latimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Dive Brief:
California lawmakers are backing a bill to create BankCal, a government program that would offer a zero-fee, zero-penalty consumer banking option to the state’s residents. The measure is aimed at protecting consumers who lack access to traditional banking services from predatory, discriminatory, and costly alternatives.
Assembly Bill 1177, which lawmakers and advocates unveiled last week, would establish a Public Banking Option Board, which would partner with financial institutions to offer the free accounts. California employers with five or more employees would be required to facilitate direct deposit, when requested, into the account.
The bill is scheduled to be heard April 29 before the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee.
Banking can be expensive, especially for low-wage workers.
A score of California lawmakers has signed on to a new bill designed to offer Golden State households free financial services, taking on the state’s powerful banks at a time when easier access to banking services could help families cope with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If it passes, the California Public Banking Option Act would create BankCal, the first state government program in the nation to offer universal consumer banking, according to financial policy experts. The program would provide no-fee debit cards, direct deposits from employers and government agencies, electronic bill payment and ATM access, directly competing with private banks.
California banking bill to offer free services amid COVID-19 - The San Diego Union-Tribune sandiegouniontribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sandiegouniontribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
California Tackles Banking Accessibility With New Bill
California has a new bill designed to offer households free financial services, taking on the state s powerful banks at a time when easier access to banking services could help families cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. by Margot Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times / April 6, 2021
Banking can be expensive, especially for low-wage workers.
A score of
California lawmakers has signed on to a new bill designed to offer Golden State households free financial services, taking on the state s powerful banks at a time when easier access to banking services could help families cope with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.