Regulators will be bringing pressure on banks to make greater efforts to serve poorer communities after an FDIC survey showed that more than a quarter of U.S. households have little or no financial activity through banks.
So, the same regulators who “cracked down” on revenue sources from low-income customers, such as credit card fees and overdraft fees, are now shocked, shocked to find that these low-income customers are not being solicited by banks.
READER COMMENTS
Ryan Vann
Dec 4 2009 at 12:12pm
It always befuddles me when people make legislations encouraging private firms to do their bidding, but are shocked when there are consequences. Couldn’t some government bureau, whose mission was to make finances available for the poor, been established? The old addage, “if you want something done right, do it yourself” comes to mind.
DanT
Dec 4 2009 at 3:54pm
That matches closely to the estimated 30% of US citizens who don’t have a state-issued photo ID. Could be difficult to open a bank account without an ID.
Note: You can still drive without a driver’s license.
Lord
Dec 4 2009 at 9:55pm
You may have your reasoning backwards. Low income customers avoid banks because of all the fees they charge. If they didn’t charge all these fees, they would have no reason to avoid them. It is only now that they have ‘cracked down’ on them.
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