Roughly 7.1 million homes\u00a0— or 5.4% of U.S. households — do not have checking or savings accounts, says a survey released Monday by bank regulators.
Millions of consumers — including people of color — aren’t able to easily cash a check or visit an ATM because they’re not customers of regular banks. The top reasons given for not having a bank account include not having enough money to meet minimum balance requirements, not trusting banks, bank account fees are too high, bank account fees are too unpredictable. Banks across the country are now being urged to offer a more affordable type of account called Bank On accounts that allow for banking with little to no fees. Such accounts have low monthly maintenance fees and no overdraft fees, as well. The American Bankers Association on Monday called on every bank in the country to consider offering «Bank On-certified accounts» to expand access to banking services and reduce the number of unbanked and underbanked Americans. More than 40 banks offer such accounts today. The minimum opening deposit could be as low as $25 or less. No one in the house has access to even a basic checking account or savings account in roughly 7.1 million homes — or 5.4% of U.S. households, according to a survey released Monday by one of the nation’s bank regulators on “How America Banks.” The good news is that a healthier economy in recent years has meant that we’re looking at the lowest level of so-called “unbanked” consumers in 10 years of the survey. The peak was 8.2% in 2011 and the level was 6.5% in the previous survey for 2017. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. takes a hard look at how consumers use the banking system every two years in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau.
