Search Results
Journal Article
Who Are the Unbanked? Characteristics Beyond Income
As the U.S. economy recovered from the Great Recession, more households entered the banking system. Still, 9 million households were unbanked in 2015. Understanding the characteristics of these households is critical in designing effective policies for financial inclusion. Policymakers often consider low income to be the defining characteristic of the unbanked. However, this broad characterization may mask large differences in banking status within low-income groups. {{p}} Fumiko Hayashi and Sabrina Minhas examine which household characteristics beyond income are associated with households? ...
Discussion Paper
Payment cards and the unbanked: prospects and challenges.
On July 13-14, 2005, the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia hosted a conference to better understand the ways in which electronic payment tools are being adapted to meet the financial needs of underserved consumers. This event, ?Payment Cards and the Unbanked: Prospects and Challenges,? brought together a range of perspectives from the banking industry, community development arena, academic community, and regulatory groups, as well as providers of new and emerging payment technologies. These participants examined the opportunities and challenges in providing ...
Report
Financial inclusion and consumer payment choice
This report examines similarities and differences among three groups of consumers: those without a checking or savings account (unbanked), bank account adopters who have used alternative financial services (AFS) in the past 12 months (underbanked), and bank account adopters who did not use AFS in the past 12 months (fully banked). Consumers in the three groups have different demographic characteristics, income, and payment behaviors: ?The payment behavior of the underbanked is similar to that of the fully banked. ?Unbanked consumers make fewer payments per month than the fully banked and the ...
Discussion Paper
Driving positive behavior change through education and motivation: summary of a PayPerks workshop
Start-up firm PayPerks has developed a financial capability and rewards platform that combines online education with sweepstakes-based incentives. PayPerks? initial emphasis has been on improving the understanding and use of prepaid cards among individuals with little prior experience using payment cards. Participants can earn points in a variety of ways, including taking short, self-directed tutorials on prepaid card use. Every month, those points become chances to win cash prizes in sweepstakes drawings. PayPerks co-founders facilitated a Payment Cards Center workshop where they ...
Journal Article
Get Checking Launches in Houston
Access to mainstream financial services is on the horizon for unbanked and underbanked consumers in Houston through Get Checking(TM), a national initiative sponsored by eFunds Corp. and the University of Wisconsin Extension.
Working Paper
From cashing checks to building assets: a case study of the check cashing/credit union hybrid service model
This case study examines the pilot effort of Community Trust Prospera (CT Prospera), a division of Self-Help Federal Credit Union, to combine the accessible services of a check-casher with the longer-term depository and lending relationship opportunities of a mainstream financial institution. CT Prospera is based upon the ?micro branch? business model, which centers around a retail branch that has a small physical footprint, similar to a check cashing outlet, and is designed to create an inviting, safe, and accessible environment for clients who may not feel comfortable entering a traditional ...
Journal Article
Estimating the cost of being unbanked
Being unbanked involves not only direct costs such as check cashing fees or payday loan interest, but also barriers to building a nest egg.
Journal Article
Reaching the unbanked and underbanked
Bankers may find census and survey data useful when exploring reaching the unbanked and underbanked in their communities.
Journal Article
Promoting banking services among low-income customers
Many low-income people rely on payday lenders, check cashers, and other alternative financial service providers to get by. But the high costs make it hard for families to save. A 2008 Brookings Institution report highlights the reasons that the so-called unbanked turn to such services. It also suggests solutions-including both expanded bank offerings and increased access to government programs that stabilize incomes and reduce the need for emergency, high-cost credit.
Briefing
Inclusion by Design: Crafting a Central Bank Digital Currency to Reach All Americans
One motivation for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is financial inclusion—bringing unbanked Americans into the payments system. To meet this goal, a CBDC would have to be designed to meet the specific needs of the diverse unbanked population.