Initiative Overview: Bank on DC is the first comprehensive program in the District of Columbia to serve the "unbanked," those who live without access to mainstream financial institutions and are forced to rely on expensive check-cashing services. In October 2009, City Administrator Neil Albert, Deputy Mayor Valerie Santos, and DISB Commissioner Gennet Purcell challenged every local financial institution to partner with the City and help remove barriers that have historically kept the unbanked out of the financial mainstream.