New Tools for the Unbanked

By Philip Brewer. Last updated 16 September 2014. 3 comments

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Until just the past few years, lack of access to the banking system has been an expensive burden on the poor. Just recently, a surge in new financial products make it a lot less expensive to be unbanked. (See also Making Direct Deposit Safe for the Garnished)

It used to be that you either used the banking system, or you paid through the nose to buy individual banking services (3% or more at a check cashing store, $1 or more for a money order, outlandish rates for a payday loan).

The Unbanked

Although the barrier to using the banking system is usually described in terms of poverty, merely having little or no money doesn't need to block access. It's really a cluster of related problems that add up to make using conventional banking services so difficult and expensive that people end up choosing to do without:

  • No cash to keep a minimum balance
  • No regular paycheck to have direct deposited to qualify for a no-fee account
  • Not living in a neighborhood with a local bank
  • Not speaking (or reading) English well enough to use banking services
  • Not having the skills to maintain a check register
  • Having a history of bounced checks or unpaid debts
  • Working during banking hours

Any two or three of those issues can put the regular banking system out of reach (although someone with a little financial savvy can almost always find a cheap way into the banking system).

But if the way you live your financial life makes the banking system a poor fit, there are now some alternative financial service providers that can be cheaper than regular banks.

The New Prepaid Cards

These alternatives are organized around a prepaid debit card. Instead of cashing a check, they put the money onto your card. This is just as good for you (you can get cash at an ATM) and cheaper for them.

These cards do charge fees — a lot of them. There's often a fee to get a card, a fee to add money, a fee to use an ATM, a fee to check your balance, a monthly fee, etc. But the fees are clear (rather than mysterious the way bank fees can seem to someone whose parents didn't teach them how to use a bank). And they're low — a careful user can keep the monthly charges at just a few dollars (less than they'd pay for a bank account).

Further, we're about to see another step down in these fees. That's because the new cap on debit card swipe fees has an exception for reloadable debit cards — provided the cards have no overdraft charges and allow at least one no-fee ATM withdrawal per month.

I still think the banking system is the better choice for most people. But for everyone else, the next generation of prepaid cards will provide most of the banking services they need, and do it with lower fees than ever before.

Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Guest's picture
Ryan

It is also worth noting that if you lose a prepaid debit card or it gets stolen, notifying the issuer and getting that money back can be tricky. For those with existing bank accounts, it is a different story since they have an ongoing relationship with the bank.

Guest's picture

Hello Philip! My name is Melissa and I keep up with your blog daily :) I work for a prepaid card company called Mango. While you're absolutely right that many prepaid cards do charge a lot of fees, our company strives to give very reasonable rates because our mission has a dual bottom line. We want financial inclusion, and we believe it's possible to build a successful business as a financial services provider that competes on innovation rather than price and profits from serving the financial needs of customers over time, not one fee at a time. We also think that it's imperative in today's marketplace, one with growing numbers of underbanked, a proliferation of choices to the consumer, yet a demand for more options, that we offer transparency, convenience, and value. We provide a high yield savings account, mobile payments, and investing with with as little as $25. We invite you to check out our fees at www.mangomoney.com and our blog at mangomoney.com/blog

Guest's picture

Amex touted one of these to my husband. We will be abroad and the rep said that these cards were good for travelers. I didn't look into it. I always figure that anything they are trying to sell me must be better for them!

Still, I would appreciate more info on these.