Nearly 10 million households don't use banks


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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Nearly 10 million households across the country are living without a bank account. And in some states, these residents make up a big slice of the population.

Among all of the regions in the country, the South has the largest percentage of residents who are "unbanked," meaning they don't have a checking or a savings account. According to an FDIC report released this week, 10% of the region's population doesn't have a bank account, compared to the national average of 8.2%.

While 37% of U.S. households live in the South, nearly half -- or 46% -- of all unbanked households in the country reside in this region. And so do nearly 40% of the nation's poor, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

And that's no coincidence, said Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of CardHub.com and former head of a team at Capital One tasked with identifying products for unbanked customers. "Wherever you see high poverty and low-income populations, you will see higher populations of unbanked," he said.

"If you're poor and don't have a steady income and aren't able to keep a high balance in a bank account, you might feel you're saving money by not paying a monthly fee, since it might be just one fee at the check-cashing store," said Papadimitriou.

But often, fees for alternative financial services like check-cashers, payday loans, tax refund anticipation loans or money orders can be much higher than monthly bank account fees. And even what may start out as small fees can add up significantly depending on how carefully -- and how often -- you use these products.

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I've considered it myself. If banks collapse, technically the government can't even live up to it's FDIC guarantee. That's scary. However, if banks collapse, the economy would go with them and the dollar would be worthless anyway.

More specific to this article though, I wonder how many of the "households in the south" are of illegal immigrants who can't open a bank account.

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I've considered it myself. If banks collapse, technically the government can't even live up to it's FDIC guarantee. That's scary. However, if banks collapse, the economy would go with them and the dollar would be worthless anyway.

More specific to this article though, I wonder how many of the "households in the south" are of illegal immigrants who can't open a bank account.

I was wondering that to. The article mentions the banks turning away people for having identification issues, so I would assume it refers to mostly the illegals. Sadly.

Overall, considering the amount of households in poverty today, I guess this number isn't that surprising. Just simply not good.

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too many people got screwed over.... myself included.... I just load up prepaid cards if I wanna buy stuff online.... sick of overdrafts.... I'd rather be declined then overdraft..... seriously banks can't eat one cent then charge me 50 bucks!!!! hell no

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"If you're poor and don't have a steady income and aren't able to keep a high balance in a bank account, you might feel you're saving money by not paying a monthly fee, since it might be just one fee at the check-cashing store," said Papadimitriou.

All banks have either a no monthly fee account option or a way to waive it (use an atm or make a direct deposit etc).

There are also these things called credit unions that don't require any bank balance.

More specific to this article though, I wonder how many of the "households in the south" are of illegal immigrants who can't open a bank account.

Doesn't matter. As long as you have a passport or other valid photo ID (drivers license, state ID etc) you can open a bank account.

Contrary to popular belief you don't need a SSN to open one, and it's "illegal" (well a grey area) for banks to ask you for yours.

too many people got screwed over.... myself included.... I just load up prepaid cards if I wanna buy stuff online.... sick of overdrafts.... I'd rather be declined then overdraft..... seriously banks can't eat one cent then charge me 50 bucks!!!! hell no

And prepaid cards have fees attached to them (one to open and then monthly).

Obama passed a law 2 years ago (I think?) that made banks give you the option to enable or disable overdrafts. Whats sad is that it took a law to do that since before the bank would just claim they had no way to do it, whereas in Hong Kong by HSBC account has had overdrafts disabled for many many years now.

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too many people got screwed over.... myself included.... I just load up prepaid cards if I wanna buy stuff online.... sick of overdrafts.... I'd rather be declined then overdraft..... seriously banks can't eat one cent then charge me 50 bucks!!!! hell no

you need better money management skills. I monitor my bank account everyday so I won't lose track on how much money i have to spend or not to spend. Open a saving account too so if you accidentally overdrafted it will just take the money out from the saving account. Don't think the bank will charge you for that.

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Hm. I don't really get why you wouldn't use a bank. A bank account with debit card and online banking is dirt cheap (?24 a year here, free when you're 25 or younger) and incredibly convenient. I rarely ever carry cash, I pay pretty much everything with my debit card or a prepaid MasterCard and aside the money I actually spend it's not costing me a cent.

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Open a saving account too so if you accidentally overdrafted it will just take the money out from the saving account. Don't think the bank will charge you for that.

The problem with that is that saving accounts are limited (by law) to a maximum of 6 monthly transfers. Go above that and the bank will either deny it or charge you a massive fee.

You can easily avoid overdrafts by:

1. Managing your money.

2. Select the option to not authorize overdrafts.

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Doesn't matter. As long as you have a passport or other valid photo ID (drivers license, state ID etc) you can open a bank account.

Contrary to popular belief you don't need a SSN to open one, and it's "illegal" (well a grey area) for banks to ask you for yours.

And prepaid cards have fees attached to them (one to open and then monthly).

Obama passed a law 2 years ago (I think?) that made banks give you the option to enable or disable overdrafts. Whats sad is that it took a law to do that since before the bank would just claim they had no way to do it, whereas in Hong Kong by HSBC account has had overdrafts disabled for many many years now.

The SSN is a form of ID used when opening accounts, that is a legitimate use of it.

Also I wonder how many use Credit Unions instead of banks, since the article doesn't say one way or another

Plus you have the benefit of not having all the negatives of banks

Hm. I don't really get why you wouldn't use a bank. A bank account with debit card and online banking is dirt cheap (?24 a year here, free when you're 25 or younger) and incredibly convenient. I rarely ever carry cash, I pay pretty much everything with my debit card or a prepaid MasterCard and aside the money I actually spend it's not costing me a cent.

My bank doesn't charge any fees AND refund my fee when using an ATM, never had to pay any overdraft fees or anything, blaming the bank because you don't know when to stop is not a valid excuse

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The SSN is a form of ID used when opening accounts, that is a legitimate use of it.

Not according to the Social Security Administration ;)

They say that the SSN is not a form of ID and the only organization with a right to ask for it is the IRS and the SSA.

However over the years your SSN got tied to your credit score, its too late now to do anything and Americans wonder why ID theft is so high in this country.

My bank doesn't charge any fees AND refund my fee when using an ATM, never had to pay any overdraft fees or anything, blaming the bank because you don't know when to stop is not a valid excuse

Exactly.

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Not according to the Social Security Administration ;)

They say that the SSN is not a form of ID and the only organization with a right to ask for it is the IRS and the SSA.

However over the years your SSN got tied to your credit score, its too late now to do anything and Americans wonder why ID theft is so high in this country.

Exactly.

Go look at an ID request form or open a new account anywhere, the list they hand out of valid IDs includes your SSN card, and I've been handed the same form for Federal jobs, so it seems to me the SSA needs to fix their rules because it's wrong

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you need better money management skills. I monitor my bank account everyday so I won't lose track on how much money i have to spend or not to spend. Open a saving account too so if you accidentally overdrafted it will just take the money out from the saving account. Don't think the bank will charge you for that.

I don't I am very good at it... it's the little tax or whatever that's added to the item and sometimes it's like 1 or 2 cents more then you anticipated.... I'd rather dig out a couple pennies then have it overdraft me..

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Nah. Living in the south, people down here simply don't have accounts because they do not have steady income, and see no reason, as the article says.

Also, the other portion, and I'm not joking, thinks that opening an account, they will lose tons of money, by some imaginary being working for the government will take it. Or they do not want to report their income.

Or the biggest one: The ridiculously high pregnancy and divorce rates down here. This is the biggest one. If they have a bank account, they can be garnished to pay child-support, which nearly everyone owes, and is behind on.

Pick one of the three. They are all true. The south is a big mess of a joke.

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