Underbanked

The prepaid debit card market appears to be one of the few bright spots in the financial services industry.

Banks in developing countries may seek to mine a potentially rich new market: the poor.

Though some bankers are encouraging the industry to compete against remittance specialists, U.S. Bancorp, which has tried doing so, says it makes more sense to continue working with such firms.

ORLANDO — Hoping to make prepaid cards more popular with mainstream consumers, payment companies are considering the introduction of features that are commonly available on standard credit and debit cards.

Why is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. determined to recreate the wheel when it comes to serving the financial needs of low- and moderate-income consumers?

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the wireless trade group GSM Association are trying to deliver financial services to the unbanked through phones.

By slashing the fees of its popular prepaid debit card, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is making a bid for a wide swath of banks' checking and credit card customers.

Banks could lose up to $20 billion of annual revenue if a large group of checking account holders shift their money to prepaid debit cards, a report published Wednesday said.

WASHINGTON — A wide-ranging study released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Thursday said that institutions have more work to do serving the unbanked.

Common misperceptions about underbanked consumers have hindered banks' efforts to attract business from them, according to the Boston market research company Aite Group LLC.

The recent frenzy of large institutions to acquire deposits by purchasing small rivals should raise questions about the organic growth opportunities of the U.S. banking industry as a whole.

When San Francisco was establishing a program three years ago to move unbanked consumers into the financial mainstream, banks and credit unions signed on because "it was a good political opportunity to generate good will," said Matt Fellowes, an advocate for the unbanked who advised city officials.

Two providers of financial data on people with little credit history say one's purchase of the other will improve the way they serve companies that extend loans to the underbanked.

WASHINGTON — The state of California launched a program Friday to help bankers reach out to the underbanked.

Phoenix Check Cashing Inc. has added prepaid cards and bill-payment capabilities to its payments offerings in an attempt to spur more use of its core service: biometric check cashing.

ORLANDO — Most mobile banking services use browsers and specialized software available for high-end phones, but several financial companies are turning their attention to the basic text message.

The National Council of La Raza is getting into the check-cashing business as part of a plan to get more people with low to moderate income into the financial mainstream.

Visa Inc. is developing a product it hopes will appeal to the unbanked: a dual-purpose contactless payment card that combines a prepaid general-purpose account with a separate account dedicated to transit payments.

Fiserv Inc. is trying to move walk-in bill payment, a service aimed mainly at the underbanked, to the checkout lines of grocery stores, where it could reach mainstream bank customers.

As the nation watches the twists and turns of the global financial crisis, it is easy to grow nostalgic about what banking was like 30 or 40 years ago, when it was strictly a local affair.