On Tuesday, May 25 at the First City Club, the presidents of several of the leading financial institutions in Savannah met with representatives of local government, bank regulators, community organizations and other supporters of the Bank on Savannah Program to hear the project's first Annual Report.

L-R: Mayor Otis Johnson, Erica Wiggins, Mattie Bing and Daniel Dobb One year ago, Step Up Savannah, the local poverty reduction initiative, launched a comprehensive program to bring Savannah resident who do not use traditional banking services into the financial mainstream. Research confirmed that more than 10,000 Savannah residents living in the community's highest poverty neighborhoods were relying on expensive checkcashing services and spending hundreds of dollars for services that are free for most bank customers.

Step Up collaborated with several local financial institutions to design the Bank on Savannah Program that offers free or low-cost bank accounts. The program targets citizens who have never used a bank account, or have had problems with an account in the past.

The goal is to encourage these individuals to open a bank account to reduce the costs of basic financial transactions, and take important steps toward financial security, including saving for the future, establishing a credit history, and getting into the financial mainstream.

The Bank on Savannah Program is the first comprehensive program targeting the unbanked in Georgia to work collaboratively with financial institutions, local government, bank regulators and community organizations.

The initial target was to open 1,000 bank accounts during the first year of the program, and the leaders of the program reported Tuesday that 1,011 Bank on Savannah Accounts were opened. The program also taught financial education classes to 3,024 people and developed other alternative financial products such as a low-cost rapid refund income tax advance loan program that saved low-income families in Savannah thousands of dollars during the year.

Toby Moreau, President of BB&T Savannah and outgoing Bank on Savannah chair, presided during the meeting. In addition to the reports from the local project leaders, the agenda included presentations by representatives of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. However, the highlight of the meeting was a testimonial by Erica Wiggins, a customer of Carver State Bank, who described how the Bank on Savannah Program is helping turn her financial situation around.

Wiggins opened her first checking account when she was young and did not understand how to manage the account. Her account was closed because of too many overdrafts. After realizing that she was wasting large amounts by paying fees to cash checks and purchase money orders, she went back to the bank where she was told that she could open a Second Chance Account. She praised Mattie Bing, a Financial Services Specialist at Carver State Bank, for taking the time to counsel her on how to manage the account.

Now, she said she is telling all of her family members and friends about the Bank on Savannah Program and the help she received at Carver State Bank

In his closing remarks, Mayor Otis Johnson who was obviously thrilled by the success of the program praised all of the participants and partners. “This shows what we can do if we work together,” he said.

For more information about Bank on Savannah, call 232-6747 or email bankonsavannah@ gamail.com