Having a Bank Account Doesn’t Mean You Have Financial Access

Photo By: Tech Daily

For decades, one of the simplest measures of financial inclusion has been whether someone has a bank account.

On paper, the United States performs relatively well by that standard. Nearly 96% of U.S. households had a checking or savings account in 2023, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

But account ownership tells only part of the story.

The same FDIC research found that 14.2% of U.S. households, representing approximately 19 million households, were underbanked. These households had an account at a bank or credit union but also used nonbank financial services to meet certain transaction or credit needs.

That distinction exposes an important challenge for fintech: giving someone an account does not necessarily mean giving them convenient access to everything they need from the financial system.

America’s Access Gap Goes Beyond the Unbanked

The difference between being unbanked and underbanked is important.

An unbanked household has no checking or savings account at a bank or credit union. An underbanked household does, but also uses certain nonbank services such as check cashing, money orders, international remittances or alternative forms of credit.

That means millions of households already participate in traditional banking while simultaneously looking elsewhere to meet financial needs.

The broader financial-services landscape reinforces the point. In 2023, 8% of U.S. households used nonbank money orders, 2.7% used nonbank check-cashing services and 6.6% used nonbank money-transfer services, according to the FDIC.

Meanwhile, nearly half of all households were using nonbank online payment services such as PayPal, Venmo or Cash App.

Consumers are not necessarily choosing one financial system over another. Their financial lives increasingly stretch across several.

Access Is About More Than Owning an Account

An account provides a place to hold money. Access is about what happens next.

Can consumers conveniently deposit or withdraw physical cash? Can they cash a check, pay a bill or send money without traveling significantly out of their way? Can they access the services they need outside traditional banking hours?

Those questions become especially relevant as banking itself becomes increasingly digital.

Mobile banking has dramatically changed how Americans interact with their accounts. The FDIC found that 48.3% of banked households primarily accessed their accounts through mobile banking in 2023, an almost ninefold increase over the previous decade.

Yet physical interaction with the financial system has not vanished. Nearly all banked households still used an in-person channel, either an ATM or bank teller, at least once during the year.

Digital convenience and physical access are not mutually exclusive needs.

Convenience Is Becoming Part of Financial Inclusion

That changes how financial accessibility should be understood.

Convenience can sound like a premium feature: something that makes an already functional service slightly easier to use. But in financial services, inconvenience can become a barrier.

“As more of our financial lives move beyond the traditional bank branch, access and convenience are becoming just as important as the financial services themselves,” said Michael Herron, CEO and President of PointsKash. “Consumers increasingly expect to manage their money where they already live, work and shop, rather than making a separate trip to a bank for every transaction.”

The question for fintech is therefore not simply how many financial products can be digitized.

It is whether consumers can reach those products and move money between physical and digital environments when they actually need to.

Bringing Financial Services Closer to Consumers

One response is to distribute more financial services beyond dedicated bank branches.

PointsKash is pursuing that model through KashPoint kiosks designed for retail and other high-traffic locations. The company’s platform is intended to combine services such as cash deposits and withdrawals, check cashing, bill payments and money transfers through self-service financial access points.

The idea is not that a kiosk should replace a consumer’s bank account. It is that physical financial infrastructure can supplement the banking and digital tools consumers already use.

“The future of financial services isn’t about eliminating banks — it’s about extending financial access beyond the bank branch and meeting consumers where they already are,” Herron said.

That distinction matters.

A more accessible financial system does not necessarily require consumers to abandon traditional banking for fintech, or physical transactions for digital ones. It can instead create more places where those systems connect.

Financial Inclusion Should Be Measured by Usability

America has made significant progress in account ownership. The share of households without a bank account is at one of its lowest levels since the FDIC began conducting its household survey.

But the millions of households classified as underbanked show why the conversation cannot end there.

Financial inclusion is not only about whether someone has entered the banking system. It is also about whether that system serves the financial activities that make up everyday life.

As fintech companies, banks and retailers rethink how consumers interact with money, the next measure of progress may need to be more practical.

Can people access their money conveniently? Can they move it in the form they need? Can they reach essential financial services without unnecessary friction?

Having a bank account is an important starting point. The next challenge is making sure having one translates into meaningful financial access.