The vendor required to provide banking services such as enrolling participants, outreach and engagement, and partnering with local organizations to promote the program.
- Program banking features
1. Account openings:
• There are approximately 116,000 active opportunities.
• Accounts as of October 2025.
• Account total will increase by approximately 30,000 accounts each spring as new 1st grade classes are added to the program.
• The new program partner must be ready to open accounts at this volume, keeping accounts open for participants until they are 26 years old, in accordance with program guidelines.
2. Third-party custodianship:
• Enable automation and scale — individual parent signatures are not required to open third-party custodial accounts, allowing large numbers of children to be automatically enrolled quickly and efficiently.
• Secure savings — third-party custodianship safeguards program funds, ensuring that they are restricted until the participant is ready to use them to pay for postsecondary education.
• Protect families from asset limits — families are protected from the potential loss of federal and state benefits in public programs that place asset limits on the amount of savings and other resources that recipients can accumulate without losing eligibility.
3. Differentiation between program-provided funds and participant deposits:
• The account(s) will hold both department -provided funds (e.g., $50 seed deposits and other incentive deposits) and deposits by participants and their families.
• Account structure must provide a mechanism to differentiate between these different types of funds.
• Due to the use of public funds and the city serving as account custodian there is a need to distinguish public funds from other opportunity program dollars.
• This has been accomplished in other children’s savings account (CSA) programs by holding public funds in a separate account from privately-raised dollars.
4. Account opening without a social security number:
• Children will be automatically enrolled in the program using district enrollment records, without their parents or caregivers having to take any action to open an account.
• Automatic enrollment will ensure that all children have an account, unless the parent or caregiver chooses to opt out of the program.
• Department will work with district to obtain student data including student full name; birthdate; school name; address; and parent and guardian name(s); but not the parent or child’s social security number (SSN).
• Department will electronically transmit a roster with participant information for each cohort to the financial institution for account opening annually.
5. No fees or account maintenance charges:
• Participants and their families should not incur any fees for the accounts, such as account use or maintenance fees.
• Banks providing these in-kind services are likely (though not guaranteed by the city) to qualify for community reinvestment act (CRA) credits for serving a low to moderate income population under the youth financial literacy and individual development account provisions of the CRA.
• The city of should not incur any fees for program accounts, such as account use or maintenance fees.
6. Multiple deposit channels:
• In order to be accessible to families, the selected financial institution should accept deposits through a number of channels, such as online transfer (online bill pay or automated clearing house (ach), payroll deduction (if allowed by the employer), and in-person contributions by cash or check.
• The financial institution should have branches in a variety of locations throughout the city.
- Participant-facing system requirements
• Provide a web-based and app-based interface in both English and Spanish
• Prioritize accessibility for participating families who have limited familiarity with technology - ensuring that the system is intuitive to use and easy to navigate in order to create a positive user experience
• Allow participants to view information such as account activity, participant deposit amounts, incentive deposit amounts, total savings (participant deposits + incentive deposits), and another program information
• Allow participants to receive notifications from department and the financial institution, encouraging them to utilize their accounts
• allow participants to update contact information, communicate intended changes to their Program status to department (e.g., ‘opt out’ of the program or leave the program mid-way), and download program status change forms
• Allow participants to ask for help and provide feedback
• Allow for access via web browser and mobile devices
• Provide information to allow participants to navigate the participant-facing system successfully.
- Optional system features
• Language accessibility for families who read and write languages other than english and Spanish. additional languages include Korean, Farsi, Armenian, Filipino, Traditional Chinese, and simplified Chinese
• Accessibility for participants who have disabilities
• Execution of more complex incentive deposits, such as:
o Matching deposit: for every $1 that a participating family deposits into their account, department matches that contribution with a predetermined ratio (e.g., 1:1) of program funds up to a maximum threshold (e.g., $250);
o Deposit bonus: participants who deposit on a predetermined regular basis (e.g., at least once per month for six consecutive months) receive a fixed bonus
o Benchmark deposit: participating children who achieve specific academic benchmarks (e.g., perfect attendance) receive a fixed bonus (e.g., $100 one-time deposit).
• Automated texts, emails, or alerts that are sent to families based on specific demographics and milestones
• Automated data analysis that displays real-time analytics in easy-to-read ways
• Integration of financial education for participants
• Integration of social media (twitter, Facebook, Instagram, email) for participants, department, and other partners to highlight achievements.
- Contract Period/Term: 5 years
- Non-Mandatory Pre-Proposal Conference Date: December 17, 2025
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: January 28, 2026
