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The article focuses on how Western Union has built a billion-dollar business offering financial services to poor people and illegal immigrants in the United States. Open seven days a week, Western Union caters to people who are too poor, or too illegal, to have a bank account. It offers them "free money orders," welfare-benefit pickups, prepaid telephone cards and the real clincher: money transfers to relatives overseas. They pay hefty fees for a transaction that costs $3 to $6 to process. The company that pioneered coast-to-coast telegraph service in 1861 dominates the money-transfer business today, racking up $3 billion in fees and investment income, and an operating profit of $1 billion in 2003--most of it on the backs of the poor. Western Union's money transfer business seems shrewdly geared to the 8.7 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. If they walk into a regular bank to wire money overseas, the fees will be lower, but the senders are asked for identification and personal details they do not want to provide.

The article reports on the development of Plastic Bank by entrepreneur David Katz. It mentions the bank's work in having its clients collect plastic bottles for recycling with the cash being deposited in the bank, the number of countries in which Plastic Bank operates, and the inclusion of the poor as banking customers.

The article discusses the crisis on the Indian government's Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programme as of 2014. Topics include the implementation of the DBT to compensate farmers in Barkoti Kalan and the launch of the Financial Inclusion Plan (FIP) to allow low income and rural residents to access banking services. Also mentioned are the barriers that hinder the FIP implementation process including financial illiteracy, lack of work motivation by banking correspondents, and governance deficit.

The authors offer opinions on finance in developing countries. It is argued that the widespread growth of mobile communication systems in developing countries offers means through which financial services can be offered to the poor through means such as microfinance, mobile banking and electronic funds transfers, the latter said to be of special importance to poor people in such countries. The use of cell phone text messages to encourage savings among persons in developing countries is suggested. It is stated that mobile device applications allow banks to offer services such as insurance to persons in developing countries.

Detroit City Council Member Angela Whitfield-Calloway hasn't been back to the downtown Plum Market since October, when she learned she couldn't buy a salad she had prepared with the $20 bill she brought for that purpose. Particularly since only 4 percent of unbanked Detroiters are white, Branche-Wilson said, Black residents are disproportionately affected by cash bans. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses housing for poor people in the U.S. It is now generally acknowledged that the primary cause of the. homelessness is the scarcity of housing affordable by poor people. Federal and state entitlement programs do not meet a family's housing costs in most jurisdictions, much less provide additional funds for food and other basics. Without governmental or private sector assistance, housing purchase and rental is beyond the grasp of most poor people. Banks can play a major role in the low-income housing market. The credit they extend is often pivotal to the preservation and creation of low-cost housing by nonprofit community organizations, and to its purchase by low-income people. A bank's role is also crucial in that its willingness or refusal to make home and small business loans in low-income communities significantly affects neighborhood stability. It is argued that when banks make affirmative efforts in low-income communities, they can save them from blight and decay. The connection between a bank's credit decisions in certain communities and their subsequent economic decay prompted Congress to investigate bank loan patterns.

Examines whether microlending to poor is a good way to help poor people and lift them up from poverty. Information on the success of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh in its microlending program to the poor; Successful microfinance institutions in the U.S.; Importance of different financial institutions that offer various services to different populations.

The article offers information on "trash banks" in Indonesia. Particular focus is given to how these "banks" provide cash and basic savings accounts for the poor. Additional topics discussed include how trash banking has reduced pressure on landfill sites, how residents bring plastic bottles, paper and packaging to collection points, and Sanjay Gupta, a waste management specialist at Skat Consulting in Switzerland.

The article reports on the potential benefits of Opportunity Zones on commercial real estate (CRE) lenders. It notes that low income communities will benefit from the federal rule as it encourage economic development through stimulating more construction lending . It mentions the two main categories of CRE loans and the banks that are lining up resources to lend to Opportunity Zone projects.

The article focuses on the calls for post office banking in the U.S. in 2014, which describes the offering of financial services to consumers by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Topics include how post office banking could offset revenue losses caused by the widespread use of electronic mail (e-mail), the number of Americans that are underbanked in 2014, meaning that they lack a bank account, and how post office banking could increase financial services for low-income or distressed Americans.

The article focuses on the lack of banks along Webster Avenue in Norwood, Bronx, New York City. The Bronx stands as the most underbanked borough in the city and the second-most-underbanked county in the country. Critics claim that banks avoid poor neighborhoods due to little potential profit while banks argue that low-income residents cannot meet the minimum requirements for account maintenance. Factors challenging the establishment of banks include undocumented migrants and increase in crime.

El artículo presenta un análisis de las estrategias de la industria bancaria de América Latina y el Caribe para expandir sus servicios a los grupos de menores ingresos. El autor discute la situación de no bancarización, lo cual le impide a los grupos de menores ingresos el acceso a servicios financieros de uso corriente. Servicios de microfinanzas, tarjetas de prepagos y cuentas bancarias básicas son algunas de las estrategias analizadas.

The article focuses on a poverty reduction measure in India in which all Indians were provided basic bank accounts with the accounts remaining unused by most Indians, and reports the success of the program was the result of bank managers donating tiny amounts of money, between one and ten rupees to their own customers.

The article focuses on microcredit in India. A new report from the central bank, the Reserve Bank, argues that microcredit helps the poor and allows banks to increase their business, enhance their profit and spread the risk. Microcredit is already a flourishing business. "Self-Help Groups" (SHGs), supported by banks, bring together women who pool savings for a few months, allocate them to members who need small amounts temporarily, and are then eligible for a bank loan. The finance minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, has promised to promote microfinance institutions and to help them to act as intermediaries between banks and borrowers. Despite its recent growth, however, microcredit is far less widespread in India than in neighbouring Bangladesh. Most of India's rural poor still do not have access to formal finance, a World Bank study found. Moneylenders are no longer as dominant as they were, but they still play an important role among the very poor. So there is a huge gap. Microcredit is a time-consuming business, where it is hard to achieve a big increase in market size without a commensurate increase in costs. Some see the solution in technology.

Reports on the impact of proposed changes to the Community Reinvestment Act on the midsize banks in the U.S. Monitoring of the services of banks to low-income communities; Implementation of a variety of tests for lending, investing and services for lower-income communities and community development; Proposal of revisions to the act by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The article reports that the United Nations (UN) is focusing its attention on finance for the poor. In the next 12 months the spotlight falls on microfinance, the business of lending small amounts of money to the poor, taking deposits from them, transmitting money on their behalf and insuring them. No good data exist on how many people have access to financial institutions, the breadth and penetration of banks in poor countries, the real cost of a loan and the time it takes to get one, the ease of making a deposit and so forth. There is not even convincing information, beyond lots of anecdotes illustrated by photographs of women in rural villages, about whether microfinance makes any significant contribution to economic growth or is merely another philanthropic fad. The UN would do well to address the common complaint that banks ignore the poor out of class bias. If they do, the UN's interest may hasten change: some financial institutions are already making efforts to work with the poor, either directly or by providing wholesale services to smaller financial institutions.

The author shares his reflections on why the deregulatory period in the banking sector in the U.S. will not last long and why banks should focus on some areas of reform to achieve a balance of reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Topics discussed include the promotion of innovation among banks, the modernization of finance for low-income people, and the elimination of regulatory duplication.

The article reports that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted 11 entities to begin payment banks to allow clearing bills electronically. It mentions that payment banks have been created to accept deposits through savings accounts of up to 1 lakh Indian rupees from each individual. It mentions that people from the lower-income groups will be able to remit the money back home to their families.

The article discusses the initiative of the banking industry to help unbanked and underbanked consumers to have a bank account in the U.S. Topics mentioned include the benefit of national banking system, the launch of low-cost transaction accounts for low-income households to improve their banking relationship, the introduction of mobile banking to increase household inclusion, and the percentage of households who need a small-dollar credit and are considered credit invisibles.

This article looks at banking in South Africa and the effort to incorporate more South Africans into the country's banking system. According to the FinMark Trust, an independent body promoting broader access to financial services, over half of South Africans over the age of sixteen, close to 16 million people, do not have a bank account. The main reason is the lack of regular income, a common affliction in a country where over 40% of people are unemployed. Without a salary slip, it is difficult to gain access to banking services, and fees are hard to bear. Without much money, many see no point in having an account anyway. And it is little help that banks and automatic teller machines (ATMs) are rare in poor areas. South African banks, however, have signed a charter committing themselves to do their bit to redress the inequalities inherited from apartheid.

Reports on the efforts of Missouri-based Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) make banks more responsive to the needs of lower income people. Victory in negotiating a Community Reinvestment Program at Boatmen's Bank; Strategies for forcing banks to comply with the Community Reinvestment Act.

The article discusses ways in which some large banking corporations are marketing services to low-income people and creating a new customer base. Through the establishment of individual development accounts, banks are turning the underbanked into customers and profiting. Some banks utilizing this approach are Citigroup Inc. and Washington Mutual Inc.

Reports on the financial assistance provided by nonprofit Trickle Up Program Inc. to poor people in the U.S. Granting of seed capital and training to spur micro-enterprises; Potential of nonprofits like Trickle Up to help banks forge lasting relationships and help fight poverty.

The book, "The Working Poor: Invisible in America," by David K. Shipler is powerfully relevant to the financial services industry, for many reasons. For one thing, subsets of the working poor might indeed be markets that banking companies could benefit from understanding a little better. For another, the book helps put regulatory burdens and activists' concerns into perspective. It also teaches a lot about the mechanics and dynamics of working poverty, and as a result will contribute to the industry's understanding of how to implement the many charitable and educational programs now being offered to help low-income individuals manage their finances.

The article talks about John Bryant, founder of Operation Hope which is a non-profit organization that aims to improve the financial lives of low-income Americans. Topics include the number of adults that had received financial literacy training and credit counseling from Operation Hope since 1992, Bryant's move to revamp Operation Hope and the way it provides its services, and the support offered by banks to Bryant's move.

The article discusses the benefits that Michael Barr, the assistant secretary for financial institutions at the U.S. Treasury, feels that new financial products being created will help low-income people become involved with the banking system.

The article discusses how financial-services companies are tailoring their products to the needs of poor people in developing nations. Accion International, Grameen Bank, and other firms are active in group-based microcredit wherein group loans are made and retired through small, frequent payments. Mibanco in Peru offers home-improvement loans designed for the residential building habits of that nation's poor people.

Several corrections to articles previously published are presented including “Test Case for Why Underbanked Still Elude Industry," in the June 2, 2009 issue and "Two Lean Years Foreseen as Banks Clean Up Losses," in the June 3, 2009 issue.

The article discusses the credit rating of the Central Bank of Kansas City, a designated community development financial institution, and the views of the bank's chief executive, William Dana. Dana said the bank's favorable rating by A.M. Best Co. will help it to solicit deposits form outside of low income neighborhoods.

The article discusses a recommendation by a newly created committee of regulators, bankers, and others for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to start a two-year test program to give banks more incentives to offer small-dollar loan products. The product template is designed to replace the high-cost payday loans marketed toward low-income communities.

This article reports that banks looking for new customers and more deposits might be able to find them in low-income neighborhoods mostly served by check cashers, payday lenders, and other fringe financial institutions, according to a new study by the National Community Investment Fund. The report, "From Margins to Mainstream: A Guide to Building Products and Strategies for Underbanked Markets," gives four case studies on how banks and credit unions recruited low- and moderate-income people as customers.