OFE is committed to our flagship programming – K2C, Bank On and Smart Money Coaching – but we also know that innovation is born from experimentation. OFE uses its policy, research and advocacy to highlight emerging issues and design and test new projects to support financial empowerment,inclusion and racial equity. OFE partners with other city departments to create, implement and evaluate innovative projects to strengthen economic security and mobility for vulnerable San Franciscans. With these projects, OFE seeks to incubate the next generation of financial empowerment programming while sharing learnings with advocates, policymakers, service providers, impacted communities and other jurisdictions.
For more than a decade, under the leadership of Treasurer José Cisneros, OFE has partnered inside and outside City Hall to equip San Franciscans with knowledge, skills and resources to strengthen their financial health and well-being. At the same time, OFE has leveraged its innovations on the ground to model what's possible across the country.
OFE’s Economic Mobility Lab (mLab) designs and tests financial innovations that have the potential to strengthen the economic security and mobility for low-income workers and families. mLab is innovating to equip workers and families to manage financial volatility and shocks. Leveraging OFE’s in-house research and development capabilities, innovation funding, and a strong network of City, private and non-profit collaborators, mLab is developing San Francisco's next generation of financial empowerment innovations, and sharing learning with advocates, policy makers, service providers, and municipal peers. mLab is actively leading OFE's experimentation to identify the next generation of financial innovations.
Thanks to the contribution of a strong Bank On San Francisco coalition launched more than a decade ago, the percentage of unbanked residents in San Francisco dropped from 5.9% in 2011 to 2.1% in 2015. However, 16.5% of residents with bank accounts continue to turn to high-cost payday lenders, check cashers and other alternative services to meet financial needs (FDIC, 2015). Bank On San Francisco has been reimagined to aid those who face particular challenges accessing the financial mainstream. Bank On San Francisco is a vibrant flagship service.
Smart Money Coaching provides free, confidential, one-on-one financial guidance. The program is available to anyone living, working or receiving services in San Francisco, regardless of citizenship status. Our coaches are fluent in Spanish and Cantonese, with additional translation services as requested.
While San Francisco's youth employment programs have been successful in building work-related skills and career pathways, participants lacked financial knowledge and skills, and often relied on check cashers to cash their paychecks. OFE partnered with the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF) and MyPath, a nonprofit focused on paving economic pathways for low-income youth, to integrate access to financial services into workforce programs for youth ages 14 to 24. OFE enlisted San Francisco Federal Credit Union to offer youth a non-custodial account that provided checking, savings and a debit card with no overdraft or monthly fees. Summer Jobs Connect remains a vibrant public-private partnership of OFE, San Francisco Federal Credit Union, MyPath and DCYF that is now an extension of Bank On San Francisco.
More than 67,000 working households in San Francisco did not get paid by direct deposit, receiving their pay in check or cash. Employees receiving checks often turned to check cashing companies, paying as much as $1,000 in annual fees. Processing checks is also expensive for employers and moving to direct deposit can significantly lower payroll fees. CurrenC SF was launched to help employers and employees switch to direct deposit, increasing working household's access to affordable financial products. CurrenC SF is no longer a stand-alone program of OFE, but direct deposit remains an essential component of its engagement with employers, to strengthen the financial health and well-being of employees, through other OFE programs including Bank On San Francisco and Summer Jobs Connect.
San Francisco’s Kindergarten to College program (K2C) is the first universal Child Savings Account program in the country. Founded in 2011 by Mayor Gavin Newsom (now Governor) and Treasurer José Cisneros, K2C automatically opens a savings account seeded with $50 in public funds for every child entering kindergarten in SF’s public schools, putting students on a path to college from their first day of school. Learn more here.
Payday loans are predatory in nature, with annual percentage interest rates (APRs) as high as 400%, or $15 for every $100 borrowed. With repayment required in full within two weeks, borrowers often take out a new loan to pay an old one, creating a debt cycle that is hard to break. By 2007, 36 payday lenders in San Francisco were lending over $60 million annually to residents. Launched as Payday Plus SF, OFE partnered with 6 credit unions to offer residents short-term credit of up to $500 at a maximum APR of 18% over a repayment period of 6 to 12 months. Payday Plus SF's impact proved positive but limited in scale due to the high cost of issuing small loans. While PayDay Plus SF is no longer a stand-alone program, OFE continues to explore innovations to help families manage financial volatility, financial shocks and short-term credit needs.
Fifty thousand households, including half of all African-American and Latino adults, in San Francisco were unbanked, relying on alternative -- often predatory -- financial services to manage their day-to-day financial needs. A first in the country, Bank On San Francisco organized 14 banks and credit unions committed to improving low-income residents' access to affordable checking accounts. Bank On San Francisco was reconceived and expanded in 2017, based on new national Bank On account standards.
In 2005, our inaugural initiative was establishing the Working Families Credit. At the time, we found that 15-25% of families eligible for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) were not claiming it. In San Francisco, the estimated annual amount of unclaimed credit equaled $12 million! We pioneered a municipally-led initiative supported by a coalition of local partners and a city-wide marketing campaign, the Working Families Credit, which offered a local match to the federal EITC. The credit still exists today and is managed by the San Francisco Human Services Agency (HSA). Learn more here.