In September, New Labor, the New Brunswick nonprofit worker center, released a special debit card created for immigrants as an alternative to opening a bank account.
Six months later, the center has signed up almost 300 local immigrants with the card, named SiGo - combining "go" with Spanish for "yes." The success of the pilot project in New Brunswick led the card's distribution to expand to eight other centers across the country.
SiGo cards are reloadable, prepaid debit cards than can have up to $2,500 on them, said Rich Cunningham, executive director of New Labor and a Rutgers alumnus.
He said individuals can make purchases with the card anywhere MasterCard is accepted and take money out of ATMs. It also allows people to share money with their families abroad, with low and minimal costs in most cases.
The SiGo card is different from a bank debit card because it gives the holder immediate access to money, and also because the user cannot overdraw.
New Labor, Cunningham said, is more personal than a bank. It works with immigrants on a day-to-day basis, providing things like English language and computer classes, worker rights workshops and legal counseling.
"It's an intermediate step between mainstream financial banking and fringe financial banking that people use with check cashing facilities," he said.
"The idea of using a bank doesn't really appeal to some people," he said. "When you have a low income and are living from check to check, ... if you zero out your bank account, you're going to get hit with pretty enormous fees."
The card is beneficial because it is safer than cash, Cunningham said, especially since many immigrants in the area rent out rooms, where they leave their life savings when at work. "It's not a very good decision, making themselves easy prey to folks who don't have the best intentions," he said.
Cunningham said the center's goal is not to distribute as many cards as possible, but rather issue cards only to those they can educate about it first.
"The idea is to self perpetuate," he said. "We want to get people who are using the card to show other people how to do it."
"We have a strategic mission to build the organization, provide a financial product that saves people money, and overall, we are building a community that is self sufficient," he said.
The card can be obtained and reloaded at New Labor on Bayard Street. It can also be reloaded at several stores in New Brunswick, including Walgreen's and Radio Shack.
The card, created through a partnership between local organizations and two national organizations, came from a three-year research project on immigrant worker centers by Janice Fine, assistant professor of labor studies and employment relations.
The more popular of the two SiGo cards - the money transfer card - is priced at $2.50 for the card. Cunningham said there are minimal transaction fees, like $1 to use an ATM. If a cardholder signs up for direct deposit, the only cost to send money abroad is $2 for the family to use an ATM on the other end.
Be the first to comment on this article!