helping the “unbanked” enter the financial mainstream by opening checking and savings accounts...
The UNBANKED?????????????? Here in the real world the only way the banking industry might not ‘Bank’ you is either
1. A history of bad checks so bad the bank says go away.
2. No valid id/documentation because you are on the lam,
or not suppose to be here in America (illegals).
3. A credit score under 500.
Pay day loans are great for those who have no other option!
Government intervention will not improve the lot in life for those who have screwed up their lives.
Add 4) the inability to understand that checks take time to clear and if the ATM screen says your balance is $200, you cannot withdraw $140 if you wrote a $100 check earlier that day.
My bet would be on #2, by a country mile.
And those folks take the haircut twice — once to cash the paycheck; then again to send remittances south to the family in the old country.
WHAT has happened to MY once-smart AMerica???
I’m really old fashioned and I go to the bank every friday to deposit my check in person and withdraw some walking around cash to get my by until the following friday. I am always amazed the number of people in line in front of me that are there simply to cash their entire paycheck and don’t have a bank account of any kind. THey have to pay a fee to cash the check and it is not a small fee. I always hear the teller say the same thing...”if you open an account with us today you won’t have to pay the fee”. And they always decline and pay the fee. THey get fingerprinted too. It’s amazing. I forget what the fee is but it isn’t small. I think it’s 5%. These aren’t always dumb kids or mexicans either. THEy are often middle aged white men with apparently fairly good paying blue collar jobs...quality steel toe boots and coveralls and a fairly decent pickup.