News release: “Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) Commissioner Jonathan Mintz today announced that more than 825,000 adult New Yorkers do not have bank accounts, but instead use fringe financial services like check cashers to pay bills, cash payroll checks, buy money orders and conduct other financial transactions. To help New Yorkers transition from using high-cost fringe financial services, DCA has created NYC SafeStart Bank Account, the City’s first banking product available to all New Yorkers. The Citywide Financial Services Study, which for the first time quantifies the number of unbanked adults in New York City, was commissioned by DCA’s Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE). In 2008, DCA’s OFE released a Neighborhood Financial Services Study, which examined banking practices in two neighborhoods – Jamaica, Queens and the Melrose section of the Bronx – and found that residents in these areas spent more than $19 million a year on check-cashing fees alone. This new study provides a complete Citywide picture of banking practices in all five boroughs, including local level data on the number and proportion of unbanked and underbanked households, locations of traditional and non-traditional financial institutions, and measure of access to financial institutions. Commissioner Mintz presented the findings at a forum hosted by the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School entitled “Banking Under the Mattress: Financial Literacy and Unbanked New Yorkers.”