Bank On National Data Hub: Findings from 2019

About 5.4% of U.S. households are unbanked, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), meaning they do not have checking or savings accounts. While this figure represents the lowest rate of unbanked individuals since the FDIC began compiling this type of data in 2009, it means that 7.1 million U.S. households and businesses are still operating on the sidelines of the financial mainstream because they feel: they don’t have enough money for an account; they don’t trust banks; avoiding banks affords more privacy; bank fees are too high or unpredictable. The purpose of the Bank On movement is to improve the financial stability of unbanked and underbanked individuals and families by making safe, low-cost transaction accounts available and accessible to all. A way in which the movement reaches its target markets is by professionalizing, or building a formal structure, for banking access efforts for financial institutions and their customers. Paramount to the professionalization of such efforts are high-quality data showing the take-up, or engagement with and usage of, Bank On-certified accounts. The St. Louis Fed’s Bank On National Data (BOND) Hub serves as a national reporting platform for all financial institutions offering certified Bank On accounts. For this report, 10 financial institutions submitted data to the BOND Hub. The institutions were asked to submit their 2019 account data on 25 metrics related to account openings, usage and consistency, and online access. These data allow stakeholders to better understand the market nationally, regionally and locally. The BOND Hub also allows financial institutions to benchmark the performance of Bank On-certified products and use this information for regulator examinations of their community services. It helps Bank On coalition partners illustrate their progress in promoting local banking access without requiring multiple data requests. The ability to quantify the national impact of Bank On—and how consumers are opening and using safe, affordable transaction accounts—is an important asset for banking access efforts and demonstrates the market for Bank On-certified accounts.