A group of northeast Iowa credit unions and local banks aretaking up the unbanked mantle this week in a “Bank on Dubuque”venture promoted by the National League of Cities.

Under the initiative that kicked off Tuesday, the banks and CUshope to offer low- and moderate-income residents free or low-costchecking accounts and access to free financial education.

“We do have a local coalition that has been working on this forabout a year and the plan is to open 500 accounts,” said DavidKlavitter, senior vice president of marketing/public relations atthe $941 million Dupaco Community CU. A major goal, Klavitter said, is todecrease the level of mistrust and apprehension non-bankedresidents hold for financial institutions.

When planning first began among the eight banks and CUs,Klavitter said, “We agreed to leave our differences at the door” towork on the venture, similar to some 35 other “Bank On” programsthe National League of Cities is working with across thecountry.

Dubuque is the first Iowa city to participate. Other recentlaunches were in Detroit, Omaha and Marion, Ind.

The “Bank On DBQ” accounts require no minimum balance and “offera second chance for people who have had previous trouble withbanking.”

The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque said that accordingto FDIC records, Iowa has 4.7% unbanked and 16.8% underbankedhouseholds and using U.S. Census data, “this suggests about 1,000unbanked households and 4,000 underbanked households inDubuque.”

“An increasing number of people in our community cannot or areunable to save money and build wealth,” said Nancy Van Milligen,executive director of the foundation. “Bank On Dubuque willimmediately put more money in people's pockets, and teach them asustainable way to manage money for the future.”

In addition to Dupaco, participants include Alliant CU, DuTracCommunity CU and Health Services CU.