The Office of Financial Empowerment convenes, innovates, and advocates to strengthen the economic security and mobility of all San Franciscans.
Systemic Barriers to Banking the Unbanked
Since founding the Bank On movement in 2006, the San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE) has found persistent disparities in banking access due to structural flaws in the financial system. This brief outlines four major systemic barriers to banking -- distrust of mainstream financial institutions, ChexSystems records, debt in collections and asset limits -- as well as opportunities to remove these barriers and increase banking access. Read more here.