Guaranteed Basic

Income

Guaranteed basic income (GBI) is a highly effective way to provide financial stability to families. More than 43% of Americans experience income volatility where annual pay fluctuates 25% or more, cash gives people the tools to solve their own problems, whether it’s paying rent, fixing the car transmitter, or enrolling a child in an after-school activity. As the lead product provider in the country's first two county and city driven guaranteed income programs, we have learned that while the idea of guaranteed income has quickly gained traction, practical tools for implementation are harder to come by. That's why we provide a product that can be used beyond the GBI initiative to ensure people have access to an on-going, safe and reliable no-fee account.

no-fee prepaid debit card 

CFR’s Visa Prepaid Debit Card that can be used as an on-going bank account.

payment facilitation

CFR can provide the monthly ACH transaction to GBI recipients.

D-identified card transaction data

We provide the transactional data to analyze how funds are being used. 

About our GBI work

Community Financial Resources (CFR) first began exploring guaranteed income work in 2013, when we began using CFR’s no- fee Visa Prepaid Debit Card that can be used as an on-going bank account through a pilot called Paycheck Plus in partnership with Food Bank for New York City, United Way of Greater Atlanta, and MDRC, a nonprofit education and social policy research organization. The Paycheck Plus pilot concentrated on expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for single workers without dependents in NYC and later expanded to Atlanta. The preliminary findings were consistent with other research on the impact of the federal EITC, indicating that an effective work-based safety net project can increase incomes for vulnerable and low-income individuals and families, while encouraging and rewarding work.

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In 2018 we partnered with the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED), the country’s first mayor led guaranteed income demonstration, to provide our debit card as the means for receiving the $500 monthly guaranteed income. In February 2019, the 125 randomly selected Stocktonians began receiving their guaranteed income on the card. The de-identified transactional data on how funds are being used, provided by CFR, confirms the point we all know to be true: people spend their money on their basic needs like food and bills, and it gives them the needed breathing room to support their families. 

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In the Fall of 2020, we began our partnership with the County of Santa Clara to support the first-in-nation basic income project for young adults transitioning out of foster care by providing safe affordable tools for cash transfers. The project offers $1,000 a month and access to financial coaching to youth who will no longer be eligible for foster assistance. CFR provides our debit card to ensure youth have safe and immediate access to their basic income, facilitates the cash distribution to the youth, and provides de-identified transactional data to the County’s independent evaluators on how funds are being used.  

INTERESTED IN LAUNCHING A GBI PROJECT? SEND US AN EMAIL.