  Banking mega-mergers, financial deregulation, and rising fees have pushed many poor and working class people out of the financial mainstream and into a world of "fringe" banking that consists of expensive check cashers, pawn-shops, pay-day loans, and predatory lenders. SAJE is committed to bringing people back into banks and banks back into working class communities. WELFARE-TO-WORK BANK ACCOUNTSAJE negotiated the nation's first welfare-to-work bank account with Washington Mutual (the largest savings and loan in the country) and ran a pilot program that led to new policy within the bank.STATEWIDE DIRECT DEPOSIT LEGISLATIONThrough a unique collaboration with Consumers Union and the California Bankers Association, SAJE won state legislation that requires all counties in the state to offer direct-deposit to people on welfare. On March 1, 2002, the first day LA County made direct-deposit available, 7,500 people signed up for the program.PEER EDUCATORSTo make sure that people in Los Angeles benefited from the bank account and legislation, between 2000 and 2003, SAJE trained eight people on welfare who were SAJE activists to become effective financial trainers of other low-income people. As a result, over 2,000 low-income people received financial literacy training and moved from marginal to mainstream banking systems. SAJE learned a lot from this experience which is documented in our Making Change booklet. SAJE's financial literacy programs have since been incorporated into Economic Survival classes and our approach to the development of peer educators is now an integral part of our overall leadership development program.
 Financial Peer Educators' Graduation |
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