In the video Philip talks about the role The Clearing House plays in Financial Inclusion. He cites research The Clearing House and other trade associations, conducted in May, titled “Delivering Financial Products and Services to the Unbanked and Underbanked in the United States.”
The paper takes a deep dive into:
- why US households are unbanked
- why households use non-bank-provided financial products and services
- and what can be done to improve Financial Inclusion in this US
The paper can be found here: https://www.theclearinghouse.org/advocacy/articles/2021/05/052021_tch_financial_services_trade_associations_publish_paper_unbanked
Although many unbanked individuals indicate that high fees are a reason why they don’t have a bank account, there are many no-and low-cost basic bank accounts in the market today.
The Bank On program is a collaboration between municipal governments, the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, and banks to provide low-cost bank accounts. Bank On sets the standards and banks obtain certifications for low- and no-cost transactional accounts that meet the standards. Public-private partnerships and programs like the Bank On program are working.
The program is incredibly successful. More than 153 bank and credit union accounts are certified; and more than 5.8 million certified accounts have been opened to date.
Phillip outlines other programs as well and ends with a note of optimism, “I also think that recent innovations in real-time payments have the potential to help households that are trying to manage cash-flow and pay bills. So, I’m optimistic about our prospects.”
For more information about The Clearing House and their advocacy activities visit: https://www.theclearinghouse.org/advocacy/issues
