WASHINGTON–More than 10 different initiatives were announced here during a two-day forum hosted by the Treasury Department aimed at reducing the number of people who are unbanked.
Credit unions, however, were not listed as among the solutions that were presented for bringing more people into the banking system.
Among the programs is an initiative from the Obama Administration, JPMorgan Chase and the Gates Foundation that will create a new fund for investment and development. Another initiative has PayPal and Village Capital partnering in a venture to support entrepreneurs seeking technology-based solutions to expanding financial services in the United States and Mexico.
A third program involves a public-private partnership that would focus on bringing basic banking services to the Mississippi Delta, which Treasury described as “one of the most unbanked regions in the country.”
Coca-Cola also announced it is providing training in financial literacy and entrepreneurship for women and girls in the southeastern U.S., while the Department of Housing and Urban Development said it is partnering with a number of organizations and companies with a goal of developing systems that provide a credit history for more Americans.
“More than two billion people around the world rely solely on cash transactions, and basic financial services are out of reach for one in four individuals on earth,” said Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. “Even in the United States, with greater access to conventional financial services, one in five households continues to use alternatives like check cashers or auto title loans.