NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Though many of the 2.5 million legal permanent residents of California have bank accounts and credit cards, the biggest barrier to their gaining citizenship is simply the cost, according to a recent study by the Hispanic advocacy group National Council of La Raza.

A little over two years ago the staff of the tiny Pan American Bank in East Los Angeles recognized this difficulty and developed a microloan program to address it.