Posts about Banks

Unbanked on CaBi: DC is helping unbanked residents get Capital Bikeshare memberships, as part of a larger program to assist them in getting bank accounts and credit cards. (Comment)

Roads

Arlington credit union mocks bus riding

by David Alpert • July 28, 2011 12:27 pm

Every so often, someone marketing cars or car-related products decides to do so by mocking public transit. The latest example comes from an unexpected quarter: the Arlington Community Federal Credit Union.

The 2003 GM bus ad. Image via rllayman on Flickr.

Advertising that reinforces the tired cultural stereotype that bus riding is just for losers is nothing new. GM turned to the trope in 2003 with an ad characterizing all bus riders as "creeps & weirdos," which resulted in a firestorm of controversy. GM then pulled the ad.

Despite public transit drawing strongly from all income levels, there's still a pervasive attitude in many communities that getting away from riding transit is a sign of affluence. Arlington, Virginia is not the kind of place you'd expect that, but even there it remains persistent in some quarters.

Arlington has built tremendous economic success over the past 35 years around its transit system, and is recognized as a national leader in smart growth. Unfortunately, the people running Arlington Community Federal Credit Union don't seem to have gotten the message. The credit union, which serves Arlington County employees and residents, is running ads that perpetuate the anti-bus attitude:

Image from Arlington Community Federal Credit Union.

The Arlington credit union seems to be missing the boat in more ways than one. Their two branch locations are nowhere near Metro, which seems odd considering so many Arlington employees work within blocks of the Court House Metro station. Space near Metro may be more expensive, but shouldn't Arlington's own credit union set a good example? Shouldn't it locate near its customers in the county government, which are intentionally clustered around Metro? More importantly, why would Arlington's own credit union advertise in ways that undermine Arlington's significant investments promoting alternative transportation?

This may seem like a minor issue, but eliminating anti-transit cultural stereotypes is important in the fight to change how Americans think about cities. ACFCU should rethink this misguided campaign.

47 comments

Tags: Arlington, banks, Virginia, windshield perspective

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Retail

"Bank deserts" harm underserved communities

by Daniel Nairn • August 18, 2009 11:16 am

The term "food desert," a neighborhood without sufficient access to healthy foods, has quickly become an accepted phrase for anyone thinking about cities. Now the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has released data suggesting that the same phenomenon has been occurring with newly opened bank branches. They've been able to identity a pretty strong positive correlation between the siting of new banks and the median income of an area. Out of more than 10,000 branches opened in the last five years, only 1 out of 10 were placed in an urban location with high minority populations.

Photo by Thomas Hawk.

So what? Given all of the toxic asset and bank failure mayhem being announced everyday, it may seem that folks are better off if Citigroup doesn't want to set up shop on their block. However, without a physical bank within easy reach, many low-income residents have had no choice but to pay higher fees for check-cashing services, often businesses that also wave fast money in their face with unreasonable interest rates attached. The same demographic that may be more likely to receive a physical paycheck and less likely to have access to internet banking happen to be the ones who are being underserved.

I see this every day. There's a "payday loan" operation and two "Quik Mart"-type convenience stores right across the street from me. Why is it that expensive low-quality food and expensive low-quality financial services cluster together? It's probably because of a lack of market options due to spatial barriers and transportation infrastructure deficiencies. We can have a conversation about personal responsibility to eat well and make sound financial decisions, but as this data and my own experiences indicate, these decisions too often run into the simple barriers of geography.

37 comments

Tags: banks, demographics, poverty, retail