- Program Education
- Program Area Expanding Economic Opportunity
- Grant Amount $200,000
- Grant Period April 1, 2011–October 31, 2012
- Location Washington, DC, United States
- Geographic Focus United States
About this grant
Over 50 million adults in the United States are unbanked or underbanked. These disproportionately low-income and minority Americans lack access to safe financial accounts, which are an important vehicle for savings and a precursor to lifelong asset building. Through this grant, the Mott Foundation will partner with the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Urban Institute to evaluate outcomes from the MyAccountCard pilot program that will offer one million low- and moderate-income tax filers a fully reloadable, low-cost, prepaid account card that can be used for point-of-sale purchases, bill payment, or automated teller machine withdrawals. The card also features a linked savings account. Using 2011 tax season data, Urban Institute will examine use of the prepaid card product to determine whether it is an effective strategy to help people move into the financial mainstream, avoid costly alternative financial services, and accumulate savings.