Opinion: New York can bank on IDNYC

Nine months into the New York City municipal ID program’s existence, over 400,000 New Yorkers are now cardholders. While much has been made of the card’s high-profile benefits – including free memberships at museums and cultural institutions across the city – we’re confident that the IDNYC program’s most profound effect will be its ability to strengthen the city’s economy and bolster the financial security of our friends and neighbors. 

Until recently, the basic step of protecting and growing your savings by opening a bank account was often beyond the reach of undocumented New Yorkers. The municipal ID card has changed that, allowing people who previously lacked documentation to use the card to walk into a bank and receive the keys to economic opportunity.

The effect of this simple change on the lives of working New Yorkers can be hard to estimate.

A 2010 study from the Federal Reserve found that the cost of using check cashing stores – the only option for working people without a bank account – could rise as high as $1,200 per year. This is a huge sum for low-income families. Now, people who once had no choice but to use these predatory services can instead make a quick stop at their bank’s ATM. They can develop real savings, save precious time, and put themselves on the path to building real credit.

Sometimes, the effects are even more straightforward and immediate. We recently heard from Natasha, a young woman from Brooklyn, who was able to sign up for her first bank account after receiving her municipal ID. She said it’s easy for most people to take for granted the savings in time, money and energy that come with being able to shop online. From clothes to groceries, she can now place orders on the Internet, which would have been impossible without this program.

Undocumented immigrants are not the only group benefiting from this program, just as they are not the only group that has been traditionally marginalized by the government ID system. Students, senior citizens, workers too poor to afford ID application fees and transgender individuals can all count on the municipal ID to help improve their access to our local economy and to broad-based financial opportunities for their families. The IDNYC program is making it easier for our neighbors and fellow New Yorkers to be a part of the economic engine of our city.

Even after more than 400,000 New Yorkers have received their city ID, there is still room for expansion of this program. Though the New York City municipal ID easily meets bank requirements for a government-issued photo ID to start an account, some banks have been slow to embrace the IDNYC. All retail financial institutions in the city should make it abundantly clear that they welcome people carrying municipal ID cards. Alienating these potential clients is not only contrary to our city’s spirit of inclusion – it is bad business.

By broadening New Yorkers’ access to banking, we are keeping money and jobs right here in our city. People are keeping their money safe in a bank instead of under a mattress or in the hands of check-cashing services.

The municipal ID card has gone a long way toward bringing trust and security to New York City, and we hope to see even more people using it to establish their own personal economic opportunity. This is one program New Yorkers can bank on.

Melissa Mark-Viverito is the speaker of the New York City Council. Keith Mestrich is the president and CEO of Amalgamated Bank.