Leadpile’s Blog

The FDIC has released a report showing 30+ million people have little or no access to banking services. Unfortunately, this study is also highlighting the fact that many of these consumers are poor, immigrants or minorities. According to NPR news, “In all, 25.6 percent of U.S. households either lack bank accounts or use payday loans, check-cashing services and other costly alternatives to traditional banks, according to the survey.
The report is part of an FDIC effort to bring the so-called “unbanked” into the financial mainstream.
FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said access to a bank account gives households “an important first step toward achieving financial security.” Vulnerable families need the ability to save for emergencies and borrow on affordable terms, she said in a statement.”
The one thing that really needs to be pointed out about this report is the fact that it talks about many people who do not have banking services, yet they are using services such as payday loans. In reality, a consumer generally can not get a payday loan if they do not have a checking account. There might be some lenders that allows no bank account, however most do require it. So, I am not sure payday loans should be in this article when speaking about the “unbanked” consumers??????

FDIC has rolled out some new programs for consumers. Some selected banks feel that low to moderate income consumers don’t have enough options. Therefore, some banks that are participating in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp programs are offering some “special” types of loans to consumers. These loans are for those that don’t necessarily have good credit (because their credit is not pulled) and are not able to get a standard type of short term loan. Wallstreet Journal Online is reporting this great news for some consumers that are not able to get quick cash and are considered “under-banked”.
Some statements that some might question are comments such as, “Fees and interest paid to payday lenders and banks for overdraft protection contribute to a larger problem for low-income individuals–those types of loans don’t help build credit scores.” Are even some banks now trying to come up with programs that compete with the payday loan, and are they really trying to find some alternative options for consumers? I guess we will never know, but the one great thing is we are seeing some alternatives being offered to our nation’s consumers that need short term cash. This is exciting for Leadpile to see, and hopes all other banks will follow.