The Underbanked, FIS Guest Series Part 2

By Jim Johnson, senior vice president, retail payments division, FIS

As the population of the U.S. soars past 300 million, the number of the underbanked also climbs. According to a recent Javelin Strategy & Research study, 15% of the U.S. population — 35 million people — is considered underbanked. Today’s underbanked is split fairly evenly among men (52%) and women (48%), but nearly half (45%) are Caucasian and more than one-third (36%) are between the ages of 18 and 24.

The underbanked may use prepaid cards and/or have a savings account, but by definition, the underbanked do not have a checking account. What they have, and seem to use 24/7, is a mobile phone or smartphone, through which they conduct nearly every facet of their lives. While they have fewer desktops and laptops than the general consumer, they have more feature-rich phones and smartphones. They are as connected as banked consumers, but more mobile. And, the underbanked tend to shop online as much as in-store.

Review Part 1 of this series here.