East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Kip Holden unveiled the new financial program “Bank on Baton Rouge” at a press conference Thursday morning.
The program, with 13 banks and credit unions participating, will help the “unbanked” and “underbanked” open mainstream
checking and savings accounts.
Holden defined the “unbanked” as the sector of community without bank accounts who rely on financial services like payday loans and check-cashing. People who are “underbanked” have bank accounts, yet still rely on alternative services.
Holden said the issue is worthy of addressing because 12.1 percent of the Baton Rouge population is unbanked, as compared to 7.7 percent of the United States population.
“It can be expensive to be poor,” Holden said, citing research stating that the average unbanked American spends about $40,000 on cashing checks over a lifetime.
 
 
 
____
Contact Emily Herrington at [email protected]