In Illinois alone, there are an estimated 1.08 million households that have
no access or limited access to traditional banking services. Those numbers
are painfully skewed toward minorities, with African American and Latino
households accounting for 53% and 27%, respectively. These consumers
tend to spend $574 a year to cash payroll checks, and 16% of this total
population has obtained at least one loan from a payday lender.
I realize that the choice between community currency exchanges and banks
is not a simple one. If your community is in a banking desert, there may
not be much choice and finding a bank can be like searching for a needle
in a haystack. I also realize that there are a myriad of legitimate individual
reasons, such as: I don’t trust banks, currency exchanges are convenient
and provide the services I need, I don’t have enough cash to open a bank
account, I can’t maintain the minimum balance requirements, it takes too
long for the bank to clear my check, bank fees and overdraft fees aren’t
transparent, and I was denied access due to prior bad banking experience.
I’m not the person to pass judgment on someone else’s actions, nor do
I believe I have all the answers. However, after researching the sobering
statistics of the traditional vs. non-traditional financial services market, I’ll
be more conscious of how and where I conduct my own financial business.
With an eye toward cost saving, I’m going to be doing my business where it’s
most beneficial to me.
Before you head to the currency exchange to cash your next check, I want
you to consider the aforementioned statistics. I know your local community
currency exchange is accessible, open 24/7, and the cashier is extremely
friendly, trustworthy and a member of the community. However, over the
long haul these services are more costly and their fees are often double or
triple those of traditional financial institutions for equivalent services.
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