Source: America Saves Peninsula Saves, one of the America Saves programs, helps Virginia consumers improve personal and household finances by providing financial information, tools, and access to products and services.

'America Saves' Campaign Reaches Many Communities While Keeping Nationwide Focus

Since the start of the America Saves campaign seven years ago in Cleveland, banks and other financial institutions have played a critical role in developing and supporting the burgeoning savings movement. The results have been impressive. Not only has America Saves helped foster more financially stable communities, but bank partners have reported specific benefits from their work with the campaign, including

• An increase in new accounts and an expanded customer base;
• Access to ready-to-go resources for promoting savings and for America Saves Week, including visibility and press material;
• A rise in customers using automatic savings methods to make easy, consistent deposits;
• Better customer retention when those who are struggling financially have access to education and saving resources;
• Growth in overall customer loyalty, retention, and satisfaction;
• New connections with local asset-building organizations; and
• Opportunities to be recognized as important community partners.

This article discusses the critical role banks have played with America Saves and how banks have used the campaign to promote savings and realize the impacts listed above. It also highlights America Saves Week, one of the best avenues for banks to partner with America Saves and promote savings in their communities.

Role of Banks in Launching America Saves

When Cleveland Saves launched in 2001 as a pilot project for the national America Saves campaign—conceived as a social marketing effort to improve personal savings behavior—banks played a major role.

The nonprofit Consumer Federation of America (CFA) founded the campaign as a response to the decades-long downward trend in the personal savings rate. With a message of "Build Wealth, Not Debt," the campaign encourages and assists low- to moderate-income individuals and households to pay down debt, build emergency funds, buy homes, or afford other investments that result in asset development and financial stability.

America Saves' centerpiece--both nationally and in the many communities, like Cleveland, that are home to local Saves efforts--is a coalition of nonprofit, corporate, and government groups. Coalition partners are charged with promoting saving and providing opportunities to do so; schools may add the topic to curricula, nonprofits may provide counseling, employers may introduce or promote retirement savings programs, and policymakers may pursue legislated incentives to save.

Because banks serve as savings vehicles for many Americans, their participation and support was central. Leading up to the campaign's launch in Cleveland, Saves staff approached several local banks for input, support, and participation.

Banks in Cleveland rose to the challenge. A set of institutions, including Ohio Savings Bank (now AmTrust Bank), Huntington Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Key Bank, and U.S. Bank, contributed to helping develop and launch the campaign.

Cleveland banks helped conceive the idea of providing special savings products designed for low- to moderate-income savers and aggressively marketing those products in conjunction with the Saves campaign. In many cases, banks encouraged the use of those products by offering higher interest rates, "special-prize" drawings, cash rewards, or other motivators.

Among the many products offered were the following:

• Fifth Third Bank offered a "Goal Setter" savings account to "Savers," with no minimum balance or opening deposit, no monthly service fee, and a reward for hitting your savings goal.
• U.S. Bank offered a "Standard Savings Account" with no minimum to open an account, no minimum balance, no minimum to earn interest, no monthly fee, and a quarterly account statement that can be linked to a checking statement.

Bank staff also helped develop the campaign's overall organizing model, which included a motivational workshop, financial education classes, wealth coaches, and printed resources. Saves staff and bank partners laid a plan for signing up individuals as "Savers" by asking them to create and commit to a basic financial plan and savings goal.

Finally, several banks offered financial support for the budding Saves campaign in Cleveland, funding staff time and outreach efforts that succeeded in recruiting over 400 local organizations to participate in the city's savings campaign.

America Saves: Current Scope

Seven years later, the plan that Saves staff, bank partners, and others put in place has grown into a national movement far beyond its Cleveland roots. America Saves is now a robust national campaign with local initiatives in over 50 communities (for a complete list, visit our Web site). Over 130,000 people have enrolled as "Savers," and the campaign has reached millions through the news media, Internet, and public events.

The campaign also reaches an array of audiences through Military Saves, Black America Saves, Hispanic America Saves, and Youth Saves and helps consumers with specific savings goals through "America Saves on Homeownership" and "America Saves on Car Purchases."

Throughout the campaign's growth, banks have continued to play an integral role as important local partners. In fact, every campaign under the America Saves umbrella works with at least one local bank to provide and promote savings products designed for low- to moderate-income savers.

America Saves Week

In recent years, America Saves Week has emerged as the signature event for the campaign. This event brings together a large set of partners, reaching more people than it would through disparate events, and has been a boon for our bank partners, who report that it helps them maximize their marketing and promotion efforts and see more success.

Participating in America Saves Week is highly recommended for banks that are taking their first steps toward becoming part of the America Saves campaign or for banks in areas without a local Saves campaign. See our Web site for local campaign contact information; if you have a local Saves campaign in your area, please contact it directly for information on participating year-round.

Additionally, a new partnership with the America Savings Education Council has allowed the focus of America Saves Week to expand and reach savers of all incomes, as opposed to focusing only on the low- to moderate-income savers who have traditionally benefited from the work of Saves campaigns. The council, which coordinates America Saves Week in conjunction with the America Saves campaign, has long been recognized as a key player in the retirement savings community with expertise on long-range savings. The council has recruited Saves Week participants in its formidable coalition of large employers, plan sponsors, and national financial institutions.

America Saves encourages banks to use America Saves Week to promote the key message, "Make Savings Automatic." Automatic transfers into a savings account have long been considered one of the most effective savings mechanisms available. Saves Week material emphasizes "Make Savings Automatic," and bank partners have used that material to publicize their savings products and their involvement with America Saves.

The third annual America Saves Week took place between February 22, 2009, to March 1, 2009.

Examples of Participation in America Saves Week

Many banks and financial institutions have partnered for America Saves and offer excellent examples of successful savings promotion.

• In Maryland in 2007 and 2008, The Columbia Bank, M&T, BB&T, and MECU of Baltimore, Inc., among other financial institutions, worked with Maryland Saves to encourage Maryland residents to open or add to savings accounts. Called the "Roll in the Dough" campaign, the two-week effort created hundreds of new savings accounts and additional deposits into existing accounts totaling over $5 million.
• In San Diego in 2008, the Pacific Marine Credit Union set out to draw new customers by offering a special savings incentive—everyone who deposited at least $100 into his or her new savings account was guaranteed a 10 percent annual percentage yield. The credit union had nearly 800 U.S. Marines open new accounts and saw $310,000 in new deposits, with $1.5 million additionally pledged.
• In Dallas in 2007, three banks and one credit union contributed to a drawing for two savings bonds totaling $15,000 as incentives for opening or adding to an existing savings account, which generated 1,100 new or added-to accounts in six branches.
• A few additional examples of banks that offered incentives are U.S. Bank in Cleveland, which offered a 6 percent yield for accounts opened during the America Saves Week 2007, and Zion's Bank in Utah, which offered a 4.5 percent interest rate.

For more information, visit America Saves or the America Saves Week, e-mail Nancy Register, or call her at (202) 387-6121.