Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Urban Unbanked In Mexico And The United States, John P. Caskey, C. Ruíz Durán, T. M. Solo

Economics Faculty Works

This paper examines the ways in which lower-income households obtain basic financial services in urban communities in Mexico and the United States. And it discusses the efforts that private sector and government organizations are making to lower the cost or improve the quality of those services. The paper summarizes available information on these issues and assesses the rationale and challenges facing the strategies that both countries are using to improve the financial services available to lower-income households, giving particular attention to "unbanked" households, meaning households that do not have deposit accounts with any regulated deposit-taking institution, and also to lower-income …