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The South Coast Federal Credit Union in New Bedford is making it easier for immigrants to open accounts by eliminating the requirement that customers have a Social Security number.
The credit union is collaborating with the Community Economic Development Center and offering CEDC clients the service as long as they have a passport and proof of address. Accounts can be opened with as little as a $25 deposit.
It’s been next to impossible for undocumented immigrants to open a checking or savings account or apply for a loan because most institutions require a Social Security number.
Credit union president Duarte Da Silva said he feels a connection to the community because of his heritage, being a first-generation American with a Portuguese father and Brazilian mother.
This initiative means a significant change for some members of the community, who no longer have to pay commissions for cashing checks and can use cards and checks for their purchases and payments.
Email Gerardo Beltrán Salinas at gerardo@newbedfordlight.org
I don’t think it’s right that immigrants don’t need to show a social security card, when I tried to do the same thing, I was denied because I’m a legal citizen, that’s discrimination in every sense of the word.
Did you bring your passport?
US Citizens have more restrictions on them than the “newcomers”. The illegals should NOT have paths paved for them.