Citibank 2010 Annual Report Download - page 20

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One of the vital roles of banks is to help people build savings,
access a broad range of financial services and learn the basics
of prudently handling their money. Over the past several years,
Citi has been a leader in promoting financial inclusion.
One example is Citi Microfinance. Established in 2005, Citi
Microfinance works across Citi’s businesses and regions to
provide products and services for microfinance institutions
(MFI), networks and investors that lend to the underserved.
The program serves more than 100 MFIs in more than
40 countries around the world and has helped make
microfinance an integral part of the financial infrastructure.
Citi also is a leader in bringing financial inclusion to scale in
the United States. Citi was one of the first banks to join the
Bank on California initiative, giving the unbanked and
underbanked the opportunity to gain access to financial
services. Since inception, the program has created nearly
10,000 bank accounts. More recently, Citi partnered with the
City of San Francisco to launch the Kindergarten to College
(K2C) savings program, the first universal savings program in
the U.S. With the goal of helping underprivileged children
attain a college education, the K2C program will be a model for
similar municipal programs around the country. In New York
City, we launched a special savings product for low-income
entrepreneurs enrolled in Grameen America’s lending program.
More than 3,000 Grameen America members now have
savings accounts to help people grow their businesses, many
of them for the first time.
The Citi Foundation focuses its philanthropic investments on
programs that economically empower low-income individuals
and families so they can improve their standard of living.
Key to this commitment is the Foundation’s support for
programs that not only focus on providing financial services
to low-income households but also increase consumer
financial capability.
For example, in 2010, the Citi Foundation announced it would
be the lead funder of the Financial Capability Innovation Fund,
established by the Center for Financial Services Innovation.
The fund was created to support new strategies for increasing
the financial capability of low-income consumers throughout
the U.S. by providing them with access to the financial products
and educational tools they need to build and maintain assets.
Through a competitive review process, the fund seeks to
catalyze change across the financial education field, drive
widespread adoption of financial capabilities, and identify the
most promising non-profit initiatives and solutions designed to
promote financial capability among underserved consumers.
Financial Inclusion