Individual

This short article briefly summarizes and provides a link to the final report on the FDIC Survey of Bank Efforts to Serve the Unbanked and Underbanked. The survey was conducted in 2008 and the report was released in 2009. The FDIC retained Dove Consulting to help administer the survey of banks during 2008. The voluntary survey consisted of mail-in questionnaires administered to a stratified random sample of about 1,300 banks. The nationally representative sample was selected from the population of federally insured banks and thrifts with retail branch operations.

About 10 million American households do not use any aspect of the banking system. A large body of research provides evidence that limited involvement in the mainstream financial sector is most common among low- and moderate-income (LMI) households. Although their income may be relatively low, these individuals hold assets and regularly conduct financial transactions, frequently with nonbank financial companies.

In a small a financial education pilot at Oh Day Aki Charter School in Minneapolis involving one teacher and about 100 middle and high school students, results suggest that that standard financial education materials can be adapted to benefit Native students in an urban setting, despite pre-existing educational challenges that are typical of inner-city schools, such as high turnover and low reading skills. The pilot's sponsoring partners hope to build on the lessons learned in order to further promote financial education for Native youth.

This article reviews research on the effectiveness of general financial literacy training to draw implications for literacy training related to predatory lending. The article concludes that training offered by high schools and workplaces is associated with improved financial knowledge and behavior, especially for low-income or less-educated recipients. Although evidence on homeowner education and counseling is less clear cut, the article concludes that financial literacy training has the potential to curb predatory lending.