Briefing

Could Municipal IDs Facilitate Access to Financial Services?

Abstract: Of the approximately 5.6 million U.S. households that did not have a bank or credit union account in 2023, about 13 percent cited not having the identification (ID) required to open an account as a reason for being unbanked. Municipal ID programs provide a form of local identification and can be designed to facilitate access to banking and financial services, though challenges to achieving this potential remain.

Keywords: municipal identification programs; financial inclusion; unbanked consumers; prepaid cards;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Part of Series: Payments System Research Briefing

Publication Date: 2024-12-04

Pages: 6