Rolling black outs today in LA so I’m gonna take sometime for a link dump from the The Underbanked Financial Services Forum. The underbanked market represent close to 20% of all households in the United States. For many, especially in the Bay Area, it is an almost invisible part of the economy. Here in LA, with check cashing & pay day loan “financial centers” prominent in almost every city in every other strip mall, the potential and the opportunities in this market is actually quite obvious. Furthermore, many in the underbanked market participate only in the cash economy. With the internet’s heavy reliance on digital payments (such as credit cards), many in the underbanked segment are precluded from participating fully in the web economy (much less web 2.0!).
For the majority financial services providers (banks) and retailers (gorcery, general merchandizer etc) creating products and services for this market is actually a top 5 strategic initiative. With the growth slowing due to law of large numbers, they are looking at this market as the next major driver of revenue growth.
Below is presentations from the conference that was left up for the public to pour through.
Some of the more interesting ones. . .
Walmart Important just because its Walmart.
Experian Credit bureaus are really the arbiters of consumer finance.
Fair Isaac Even more extensive intro to the credit industry.
