Stay Informed!

By Sean Luechtefeld on 08/04/2010 @ 12:08 PM

Tags: Innovation, Innovators, Economic Inclusion

This week’s innovation update comes from Innovator-in-Residence Eugénie FitzGerald and San Francisco Treasurer José Cisneros. Eugénie & José, along with Leigh Phillips, are working to transition the City of San Francisco to a paperless payday, a win-win for the City and for its employees. At the 2010 Assets Learning Conference, they will be presenting SafePay – Shifting San Francisco to a Paperless Payday, an engaging concurrent session with a focus on getting people connected with bank accounts to promote direct deposit options that permit accountholders to avoid seeking predatory lending centers. Be sure to register for the Conference today so you don’t miss out on this lively discussion and see how the lessons being learned in the Bay Area can be applied to your city.

This team has completed key research to understand the direct deposit landscape in San Francisco and designed an implementation plan to shift the city of San Francisco to a paperless payday. Specifically, primary research has included a focus group with employees who had been transitioned by their employer from paper checks to electronic pay. Further, informed by results from a broad survey of San Francisco's workforce, a diverse group of local companies and nonprofits were engaged in an innovative co-design employer engagement model. The aggregate research findings have resulted in the refinement of an implementation strategy to engage private employers in this initiative and improve the financial security of low-income families in San Francisco. This has culminated in the writing of both a comprehensive implementation plan and a summary project plan, the latter available to share with external parties the key elements of the strategy moving forward.

In addition to the research, initial conversations brokering agreements with key partners such as payroll companies, workforce development and asset-building nonprofits, business associations and city departments has taken place. Further, a Request for Investment (RFI) for a robust payroll card for city employees was released and a card selected, bringing together innovation in the payroll card sector and a mainstream financial institution. Finally, a design company has been engaged and is starting to put together the branding specs and marketing elements.

Eugénie is currently engaged with completing the initial design efforts by writing up the primary research with Leigh Phillips and CFED's Ida Rademacher to disseminate the findings broadly to other cities and thought leaders. She is also putting together a promotional video to tell the asset-building story behind shifting to a paperless payday and highlighting the innovations from the Office of the Treasurer. At this stage all of the foundational elements underpinning this initiative are in place, and the Office of the Treasurer is preparing to take the next step, hiring a full-time project implementer to carry this work forward.

innovation@cfed extends a special ‘thank you’ to Eugénie for providing this update. If you have questions for Eugénie or any of her colleagues, use the comments section below and ask away!

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