FOX6 Cents: Milwaukee group helps the 'unbanked'

FOX6 Cents: Banking the unbanked

It?s safe to say Constance Alberts? pen is mightier than the sword in her fight to help the unbanked. She?s putting her group's message right at your fingertips ? right on the group?s pens and online.

MILWAUKEE - It’s safe to say Constance Alberts’ pen is mightier than the sword in her fight to help the unbanked. She’s putting her group's message right at your fingertips – right on the group’s pens and online. 

Helping the "unbanked"

What we know:

Alberts is the program director for Bank On Greater Milwaukee. The group started in 2018 to help grow the number of first-time bank account holders in our area.

Constance Alberts

"Why do people go unbanked?" asked FOX6 News reporter Bret Lemoine. 

"It could be a couple of things: they could have had issues with banking in the past. Or sometimes people may never have had someone in their family that had a bank account," Alberts responded.

What they're saying:

For a lot of people, Alberts said the alternative is paying more to access your own money. She believes check-cashing places and pay-day loan businesses can bleed the community dry. 

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"Often people will say, ‘I don’t have enough money to have a bank account.’ But if you’re using check cashing places, you’re paying between $5 and $7 every time you make a transaction," Alberts said.

Constance Alberts

What is "Bank On?"

Dig deeper:

Bank On helps eliminate barriers by gathering together a coalition of local banks who offer low-cost, low-fee transaction accounts - certified as meeting Bank On’s national account standards. 

"I think a lot of it is a fear of banks. There’s a lot of news that banks are charging fees or doing shady stuff," said Jeff Langkamp, Chief Compliance Officer at Bank Five Nine. 

Jeff Langkamp

It’s one of more than a dozen local banks offering these certified accounts. 

"Banks are reducing fees and doing different things to try and help also with that," Langkamp said.

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There are no overdraft fees for any Bank On account. Minimum opening deposits are $25 and under or free. Monthly fees are kept at $5 and under or free. There’s no minimum balance. "As we can break some of those barriers down with those relationships, people are a little less apprehensive to get to a bank account," Langkamp added.

"Back in 2017, we actually looked at the numbers. About 33% of Milwaukee County was either unbanked or under banked," Alberts said. 

In the years since, Alberts says Bank On has cut that number in half.

National statistics

By the numbers:

Nationally, the statistics are eye-opening: A 2023 survey by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, found 5.6 million households are unbanked. That means in roughly 4% of US homes, there is no one with a checking or savings account.

By getting more people banked, Alberts hopes to empower more Milwaukee area residents with their finances. Saving money and growing it with interest can help spur generational wealth. "Can we start with a dollar a day?" Alberts asked. "Start with something you can do that you won’t miss. As time goes on, you can increase that."

With these small steps Alberts says things like homeownership become within reach for many people. "I don’t care who you are or where you live, everyone wants their money to be safe. We don’t want to spend more money than we want to."

Helping the "unbanked"

Constance Alberts, program director for Bank On Greater Milwaukee, joined FOX6 News to talk about how the group is helping the "unbanked."