Underbanked

The goal of the competition is to increase diversity in the financial technology industry.

A public-private coalition, including Citigroup and disability advocates, is testing financial literacy strategies in New York City that they hope will be used nationwide to improve the financial lives of Americans with disabilities.

Lobbyists for the payday loan industry are getting a warmer reception in state capitals in 2018 than they did last year. One of their key arguments is that the federal crackdown on payday loans, which is now on hold, requires a response from the states.

A crucial challenge for payment apps and cashless banking is how they adapt to provide services for the unbanked, writes Michael Kordvani, head of SEO for app development agency Fueled.

Marathon International Bank would target the Ethiopian community with specific advertising and educational programs.

The CDFI formerly known as Progreso Financiero targets consumers with little or no credit history.

Many low-wage employees continue to be paid by paper check. WiseWage has built an online portal on the idea that workers and their employers have a shared interest in electronic paychecks.

A new service is making it easier for the unbanked to shop at 7-Eleven and Amazon, but is that really the best way to serve low-income consumers?

Regional and community banks will offer low-cost or no-cost financial products through Bank On, which has already reached agreements with Regions Bank, Wells Fargo and SunTrust.

U.S. Reps. Gwen Moore and Paul Cook introduced a bill this week would allow more credit unions to expand their fields of membership to underserved communities.

Grupo Coppel and Insikt, an online lender, would appear to be cut from different cloth, but they share an expertise in providing credit to working-class, largely Hispanic consumers. The retail conglomerate also operates 1,000 bank branches in Mexico, mixing banking and commerce in a way that U.S. regulators have not allowed.

House and Senate bills contain a provision that would let financial firms in all states use digital scans of photo IDs to verify identities of prospective customers. That could ease the account-opening process for consumers in areas where branches are few and far between.

OneUnited is trimming branches and expanding digital offerings as it builds its brand as a backer of social justice that develops innovative products such as a Black-Lives-Matter-themed debit card.

House and Senate bills contain a provision that would let financial firms in all states use digital scans of photo IDs to verify identities of prospective customers. That could ease the account-opening process for consumers in areas where branches are few and far between.

The short-term loan industry is suddenly playing offense in Washington following Mick Mulvaney's appointment as acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The grant monies will go to 12 credit unions in 17 different states.

Carver Bancorp, which has spent 70 years serving minorities in Harlem and surrounding neighborhoods, is struggling to turn a profit. As black-run banks nationwide struggle to stay afloat, Carver's CEO insists the institution is on the right track.

Evidence that the credit characteristics of online installment borrowers at the time of repayment are consistently worse than at the time of borrowing should be a sobering thought for lenders that have not been fully tested in a credit downturn.

The Cleveland Fed's conclusion that U.S. consumers are typically worse off after getting online loans encountered strong pushback from industry groups and the company that provided the data.

Consumers who have borrowed from online lenders owe more and have lower credit scores than similarly situated consumers who have not used online lenders, according to a study released Thursday by the Cleveland Fed. The provocative findings seem likely to spark intense debate.