In January 2009, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) sponsored a survey to collect data on the number of U.S. households which were unbanked and underbanked.

(An unbanked household was defined as a household in which no one in the household had either a checking or savings account. An underbanked household was defined as a household that had a checking or savings account but relied on alternative financial services such as non-bank money orders, non-bank check-cashing services, payday loans, rent-to-own agreements, or pawnshops.)

The results of the survey revealed the following key findings:

• An estimated 7.7% of U.S. households, approximately 9 million, are unbanked. At least 17 million adults reside in these unbanked households.

Certain racial and ethnic minorities were more likely to be unbanked than the population as a whole:

• 21.7% of black households are unbanked


• 19.3% of Hispanic households are unbanked


• 15.6% of American Indian/Alaskans are unbanked

Certain racial groups are less likely to be unbanked:

• 3.5% of Asian households are unbanked


• 3.3% of white households are unbanked

• The survey also found an estimated 17.9% of U.S. households, approximately 21 million, are underbanked. The number of adults in these underbanked households is about 43 million.

Certain racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to be underbanked than the population as a whole:

• 31.6% of blacks are underbanked


• 28.9% of American Indian/Alaskans are underbanked


• 24% of Hispanics are underbanked

Certain racial groups are less likely to be underbanked:

• 7.2% of Asian households are underbanked


• 14.9% of white households are underbanked

• Overall, at least 25.6% of U.S. households, close to 30 million, are either unbanked or underbanked. Approximately 60 million adults reside in these households.


• Overall, almost 54 percent of black households, 44.5 percent of American Indian/Alaskan households, and 43.3 percent of Hispanic households are either unbanked or underbanked.


• The proportion of unbanked and underbanked households varies across different regions of the country, with the highest incidence in the Southern Region.


• Unmarried family households are considerably more likely than married couple households to be unbanked. Almost 20% of unmarried female family households and 14.9% of unmarried male family households are unbanked, compared with about 4 percent of married couple family households.


• Nearly 20% of lower income U.S. households – almost 7 million households earning below $30,000 per year – do not currently have a bank account. Households with earnings below $30,000 account for at least 71 percent of unbanked households.


• The proportion of unbanked households declines with education and age: Households more likely to be unbanked than all U.S. households have less than a college education or a householder under age 45.


• Of the 9 million unbanked households, 46.9% never had a bank account; 49% were previously banked.


• An estimated 41.1% of unbanked households believes that opening a bank account in the future is “not likely at all.” However, among all unbanked households, the previously banked are more likely to consider opening a bank account in the future. About 16% of previously banked households believe that they are “very likely” to open a bank account, compared with 4.8% of those that have never been banked.


• Approximately 66% of unbanked households use one or more of the following alternative financial services (AFS): non-bank money orders, non-bank check-cashing, pawn shops, payday loans, rent-to-own agreements, and refund anticipation loans. About 25% of unbanked households do not use any AFS, suggesting a strong reliance on cash transactions.


• About 28% of unmarried female family households and 27% of unmarried male family households are underbanked, compared with 15.4% of households with a married couple present.


• Approximately 81.1% of underbanked households use non-bank money orders, 30% use non-bank check-cashing services, 16.2% use payday lenders, 15.8% use pawn shops, and 13% use rent-to-own agreements.


• The majority of underbanked households that go to non-banks for money orders and check cashing do so for convenience – speed and cost were other reasons given.


• Many underbanked households that use payday loans or pawns shops rather than banks do so primarily because it is easier to qualify for a loan or it is more convenient.