Banking Under the Mattress: Financial Literacy and Unbanked New
Yorkers

Thursday, February 25, 2010, 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnhold Hall

55 West 13th Street, Second Floor (between 5th and 6th Avenues)

A new FDIC study finds that seven of every 20 New York households is
“underbanked.” In most cases, these are low-income, minority and
single-parent households that either have no bank accounts or rely
heavily on alternative financial services such as payday lenders and
pawn shops. Such families can pay exorbitant fees and interest, are at
greater risk of robbery, and often can’t borrow because they have no
credit history. New York and other cities and states are experimenting
with solutions, including low- or no-fee community banking services
and financial literacy campaigns. What works? And what should
government, nonprofits and the banking sector do now?

WITH:

Jonathan Mintz, Commissioner, New York City Department of Consumer
Affairs, presenting new data on the unbanked in New York

AND:

Cathie Mahon, Executive Director, NYC Office of Financial Empowerment

Deyanira Del Rio, Associate Director, Neighborhood Economic
Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP)

Edward Kramer, Executive Vice President, Wolters Kluwer Financial
Services

Leslie Parrish, Senior Researcher, The Center for Responsible Lending

MODERATOR: Dean Starkman, managing editor of the Columbia Journalism
Review’s The Audit

Admission is free, but you must RSVP. Call 212.229.5418 or email
centernyc@newschool.edu.

Supported by the Sirus Fund and the Milano Foundation.