Underbanked

To get more Americans into the financial system, the industry must find ways to help more people get access to the Internet.

The impending Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposal will limit access to payday lending but it will not enable small-dollar lending alternatives for consumers.

Banks have long struggled with how to better serve the underbanked and unbanked. Here's a roundup of some strategies that are working and some fresh ideas that are in the offing.

Banking industry representatives immediately raised significant questions about Donald Trump's plan to block remittances to Mexico, including the appropriateness of using financial institutions as a tool to carry out immigration policy, as well as how the policy would be executed.

GOP lawmakers and witnesses at a Senate Banking Committee hearing pointedly criticized the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday, setting the stage for a likely contentious hearing with the agency's director later in the week.

Donald Trump proposed to block billions of dollars in payments immigrants send back to Mexico if the government there refuses to pay for a border wall, in a potentially devastating move for Mexico's economy.

San Francisco has an Office of Financial Empowerment that oversees all sorts of programs designed to help residents handle their money better and recruits banks and credit unions to participate. As other cities adopt a similar approach, more financial institutions have an opportunity to get involved.

More than half of all U.S. households have suffered a "financial shock" in the past five years. Some say mobile apps could help users brace for — and recover from — such setbacks.

HarborOne Bank is proving that financial education really can improve the bottom line.

The ability to program value exchanges without risk of censorship, moderation or theft gives smart contracts a leg up in servicing users who lack a mainstream banking association.