Bank on California is an initiative started by

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

on December 12, 2008, to help Californians open a bank account. The program seeks to encourage financial institutions to relax identification requirements when opening a bank account to include

Mexican CID Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

cards and Guatemalan CID cards as well as other CID cards. California mayors were enlisted to promote the program, which currently includes San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, California Capital Region and Inland SoCal. The program was first announced by Governor Schwarzenegger and former President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' on January 24, 2008. California was lauded as the first state in the nation to start such an initiative and would be coordinated with the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cred ...

. It seeks to draw the "

unbanked The unbanked are adults who do not have their own bank accounts. Along with the underbanked, they may rely on alternative financial services for their financial needs, where these are available. Causes Some reasons a person might not have a bank ...

" into financial institutions with starter accounts whereby it's hoped that bringing more money into the financial system will grow the economy and help the unbanked build wealth.

Criticism

Clinton and Schwarzenegger claim that "it won't cost taxpayers a dime;" however, involving the FDIC and lobbying mayors to rally institutions in their communities translate to utilizing government resources, and someone had to coordinate to get th
Bank on California
website developed. Others argue it will help California banks to "launder the illicit earnings of millions of illegal aliens," and that "Californians don´t need help opening bank accounts, illegal aliens do."

References

External links

Bank on California
Consular identification cards Economy of California {{US-bank-stub