Finally, A Balanced Perspective on Small Dollar Lending

Cudos to Jennifer Tescher at CFSI for her realistic perspective on small dollar lending, and the limitations associated with the APR calculation. Read Jennifer's comment letter on the FDIC's Proposed Guidelines for Small Dollar Lending and her editorial in the American Banker that can be found on CFSI's website.

Jennifer's reputation as a balanced voice on the challenges associated with banking the underbanked is a refreshing change from other groups' repeatedly anti-bank rhetoric.

I also strongly urge everyone to attend CFSI's Underbanked Financial Services Forum in Dallas in June.

You Know Things Are Tough in the Subprime Mortgage Industry When...

Forget Wall Street, federal regulators, and Senator Dodd. Perhaps the best indicator of trouble in the subprime mortgage industry is .... baseball. As reported in SI, Ameriquest's well publicized troubles caught the attention of the Texas Rangers baseball team, who have apparently concluded that the former Ameriquest Field doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

Gratis. The Most Secure Card Out There?

Jaikumar Vijayan writes for ComputerWorld about GratisCard - saying that "when the company launches on April 1, it plans to introduce the nation's first completely anonymous credit card with no name or number and no physical data stored on the card itself.

The GratisCard is issued by First Bank & Trust, Brookings, SD.

Big Day for Social Lending Leaders

Propser and Zopa name new members of top management and Zopa announces that it has raised an additional $12.9 million. Check out Bankwatch blog for good coverage.

FDIC Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion to Meet on Small Dollar Lending

The FDIC's new Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion will meet on Wednesday, March 28 to discuss small dollar lending alternatives. The meeting is open to the public.

Three items of interest after looking at the agenda: (1) Prosper.com has been asked to present on the topic of P2P lending; (2) the only financial institutions presenting are credit unions; and (3) the FDIC is apparently looking at some sort of pilot program.

What the OCC Has Said About Prepaid Cards and CRA Credit

In a 2004 issue of Community Developments Online, the OCC discusses the application of the CRA's Community Development Service test to prepaid card programs.

Revel Card Issuer Also to Issue New GratisCard

As reported today in BusinessWeek and the Wall Street Journal, First Bank & Trust is the issuer of the new GratisCard, whose backers include Steve Case of AOL. FB&T has issued the GratisCards booked to date as part of the early tests with the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers.

FB&T also issues the Revel Card and utilizes the GratisCard platform to deliver the Revel Advance feature.

Follow the Payments News coverage of Gratis.

What the FDIC Has Said About Prepaid Cards and Their Potential in Reaching the Underbanked

"The ability of banks to reach out to low- and moderate-income consumers with products such as low-cost debit accounts, remittance services and individual development accounts may receive favorable consideration during Community Reinvestment Act examinations.

The evolving and increasing use of stored value cards is important to the banking industry. The FDIC and others in the banking industry recognize the importance of these cards to all consumers, including the underbanked. These cards provide banks with an opportunity to reach underserved markets."

Source: Federal Register: August 8, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 151)

Welcome

Welcome to Banking the Underbanked. This site will be devoted to the exchange of ideas, examples, and information surrounding the challenges banks face in marketing and delivering products to the underbanked population in the United States.

The site is sponsored by Revel Card, an award-winning prepaid card program from Fishback Financial Corporation that toughts its "Bank on a Card" concept as it targets the underbanked demographic.

More to come soon.