FDIC to Release Updated Numbers on Underbanked

WASHINGTON — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. next week will unveil the latest national estimates of who is unbanked in this country.

In 2009, the first National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households — which the U.S. Census Bureau carries out for the FDIC — showed that over one in four U.S. households were unbanked or underbanked. Minorities and lower-income populations were more likely to be unbanked or underbanked. The survey also found that underserved areas were most common in the South.

The FDIC will release the second survey — conducted in June 2011 — at the Sept. 12 meeting of the agency's Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion.

The advisory committee is also expected to discuss the benefits of certain card-based, electronic accounts that are considered a feasible financial product for unbanked and underbanked users, as well as how mobile financial services technology can help expand access to mainstream banking.

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