Mobile Banking: Can the Unbanked Bank On It?
Over 30 million Americans are unbanked (meaning they lack a traditional checking or savings account and rely on costly alternative financial services), and 83% of American adults have a mobile phone. The Shriver Center will host a webinar with a panel of experts to discuss the relationship between this new technological approach to banking and what it may mean to banking the unbanked.
Mobile banking was first introduced in developing countries as a way to provide banking services to communities that lacked formal financial institutions. In recent years, mobile banking has taken a more prominent role in the technology world here in America as a tool for improving financial access to the unbanked.
This exciting new field may provide opportunities for increasing financial access among the millions of unbanked individuals. This webinar will provide an overview of the history of mobile banking as well as current developments in the products and services available. Panelists will also discuss the ability and effectiveness of using mobile banking to reach the unbanked and the regulations and consumer protections that need to be implemented in order to ensure this new technology safe and successful.
Panelists will include Marianne Crowe of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Rob Levy of the Center for Financial Services Innovation, and Michelle Jun of Consumers Union.
Readers are invited to register for this free webinar. The webinar will take place on August 16th, 1:30pm CST.
Also, check back later this summer for the publication of the July-August issue of the Clearinghouse Review for a more in-depth look at mobile banking.
This blog post was coauthored by Alison Terkel.
