One in 10 adults say they do not have a checking or savings account, according to new research released by Morning Consult. About one-quarter of U.S. adults are underbanked and 10% are unbanked, the survey found, with underbanked consumers more likely to be men and unbanked consumers more likely to be women.
The survey of 4,400 U.S. adults also found that 5% of all U.S. adults report that no one in their household has either a checking or savings account. Underbanked individuals in the survey were defined as having purchased a money order, paid bills or cashed a check with a provider other than a bank or credit union in the past year.
The American Bankers Association has urged its member banks to actively promote financial inclusion, including through offering Bank On-certified accounts, which offer features including low costs, online bill pay capabilities, no overdraft fees and certain transaction capabilities. Morning Consult noted that many banks already offer accounts with these features, but that awareness of Bank On accounts was low with consumers—with just one in four saying they’re familiar with Bank On.
The survey found that 53% of unbanked adults were interested in having a bank account, and that they would be somewhat or very likely to open a bank account if it included convenient bank locations, no fees, convenient hours and no minimum balance requirements, among other things.
