Posted in News, PND News
More than one in four U.S. households are either underbanked or unbanked, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said.
Since 2009, when the FDIC did its initial survey on the subject, 821,000 more households have become unbanked, a 0.6 percent increase
More than one-half of those households that are unbanked said they don’t have a bank account because they think they don’t have enough money or they don’t want an account.
The study also shows that three in 10 households in the U.S. don’t have a savings account.
FDIC acting chairman Martin Gruenberg said, “Access to an account at a federally insured institution provides households with the opportunity to conduct basic financial transactions, build wealth, save for emergency and long-term security needs, and access credit on fair and affordable terms.”
The survey found that one-quarter of U.S. households have used at least one alternative financial service such as non-bank check cashing or payday loans in the last year.
Overall, 8.2 percent of U.S. households are unbanked, or 10 million households total.
Another 20.1 percent are underbanked, or 25 million households.
About 10 percent of households don’t have a checking account and 29.3 percent don’t have a savings account.
© 2012 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution