NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation says the number of Americans who do not have a bank account fell to a record low last year; one sign that the economic fortunes of the country’s most vulnerable people continues to improve.
Approximately 6.5 percent of U.S. households were unbanked, or do not have a primary bank account, in 2017 the FDIC said Tuesday. That is down from 7 percent in 2017 and from a high of 8.2 percent in 2011.
That translates into roughly 14.1 million adults who do not have a bank account.
The reasons for not having a bank account remained steady from previous surveys, with “not having enough money” being the No. 1 reason for doing so. Not trusting banks was another popular reason for not being banked.
