A new survey released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) found that almost 96 percent of Americans had bank accounts in 2023.
The 2023 FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households found that just 4.2 percent of U.S. households, representing 5.6 million households, lacked a bank or credit union account. This is the lowest level of unbanked Americans since the FDIC started tracking this data in 2009. The unbanked rate was at its highest in 2011 at 8.2 percent.
Of the unbanked households, 66.2 percent relied entirely on cash while 33.8 percent relied upon a combination of prepaid cards or nonbank online payment services such as PayPal, Venmo or Cash App to conduct transactions.
“Access to safe, affordable bank accounts is fundamental for consumers to be able to participate in and benefit from our nation’s economy,” FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg said. “This survey reveals that significant disparities in access to the banking system for minority, lower income, disabled, and single-parent households still exist and need to be addressed.”
Among other key findings, the survey said that the unbanked rates among minority households fell by about half since 2011. However, they remain significantly higher than White households. Specifically, the unbanked rate is 10.6 percent among Black households, 9.5 percent among Hispanic households, 12.2 percent among American Indian or Alaska Native, and 1.9 percent among White households.
The underbanked rate – which encompasses households had a bank or credit union account yet primarily used nonbank products and services to meet their financial needs – was 14.2 percent, or about 19.0 million households.
The survey also revealed that 48.3 percent of banked households used mobile banking as their primary method to access their accounts. Over the past decade, the use of mobile banking as the primary means of account access increased almost ninefold. Further, the use of bank tellers fell more than half while the use of online banking declined more than one-third.
In addition, the use of nonbank online payment services such as PayPal, Venmo, or Cash App increased from 2021 to 2023, while the use of general purpose reloadable prepaid cards decreased.
The study also found that 76.4 percent of all households had a credit card in 2023, but 15.7 percent had no access to mainstream credit. The letter is down from 20.0 percent in 2017. That means that these households likely did not have a credit score with the nationwide credit reporting agencies, which could make it more difficult to obtain mainstream credit should a credit need arise.
Additionally, for the first time, the FDIC asked about the use of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services, which are short-term loans that allow consumers to split their payments on purchases over time. In 2023, 3.9 percent of all households used BNPL in the past 12 months.
Finally, the survey included questions about household use of crypto or digital assets to store and transfer money. In 2023, 4.8 percent of U.S. households owned or used crypto or digital assets in the previous 12 months. Some 92.6 percent of these households held crypto or digital assets as an investment while only 4.4 percent used digital assets as a form of payment.