The Hill News

Banks have always talked about "banking the unbanked,” however, what they meant was "how can (they) educate these consumers so they can become bankable." Banks have never been willing to change their product offerings to meet the real needs of this massive consumer group by adding services such as check cashing, money transfers, walk up bill payments, and now prepaid Visa/MC debit cards.

More and more today banks are focused on redefining their product set to meet the needs of these consumers by offering them the services they are buying today at the corner check casher or market. This shift in mentality has been pushed along by recent legislative changes in Washington (Durbin, etc.) that will significantly reduce the fee income these banks generate from deposit accounts, debit cards, and credit cards.

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