The assistant secretary of the US Treasury, Michael Barr, gave a talk last week at the annual CFED conference and has echoed these comments in other places as well. He was talking about the underbanked. I was happy to see that most of his speech was about access. Too many…
Is ACE the New ADP?
Jennifer Tescher’s column in the American Banker today (sorry, you need a subscription to read it…) reminded me, a) how pleased I am to be associated with her and CFSI, and b) of a theory that I’ve had for a while: that Ace Cash Express is starting to look more…
Is Transit Upwardly Mobile?
I believe it is an imperative to make the 60 million underbanked people in the US upwardly mobile. It will create an enormous impact on the GDP, increase the strength of the American Middle Class, and create a tremendous about of financial freedom, which this group lacks in big ways.…
Are we all Plumpy’nuts?
We try to find ways that generate revenue by serving the underbanked responsibly. Often these two notions are in conflict. CFSI’s Kate Marshall explores an interesting parallel: A recent weekend’s New York Times Magazine contained a fascinating article about a product that has been remarkably successful in treating childhood malnutrition.…
Under the Mattress
One of the things “mainstream” (as opposed to “alternative”) (and I use those quotes deliberately, because those labels should actually be reversed) financial services rarely consider is how much wealth is found underneath the mattress, especially amongst the un- and underbanked. This story, an estimate of how much is hidden…
So Much Debt, too few Goals
The Great Recession came about, in part, due to consumers’ eyes being larger than our stomachs. We wanted instant gratification, and it was available in spades. The instant gratification paradigm is in tension with that of delayed gratification. Delaying gratification requires frugality and planning. That planning is the process of…
Microbilt-CL Verify Merge
Microbilt has been around a while, providing credit servicing solutions to small and medium businesses. Guitar stores, furniture centers, auto dealers – that kind of thing. They started is the DOS terminal days and have grown to become a risk management clearinghouse targeting the un- and underbanked, through a number…
Green Dot IPO: Seminal Day for New Underbanked Industry
Today is not just a pleasant summer weekday. It is the day that the first pure-play underbanked financial technology company went public. And not with a whimper: at $43 dollars per share, higher than expected, and 27 times earnings, higher than Visa. Sequoia Capital, the blue-chip venture fund, and Total…
Credit Scores
The Washington Post ran an interesting story on some trends in consumer credit scores. Basically, there are more people with low scores and more with high scores. Those with 800+ FICO scores are presumed to have gotten their debt into shape. Those with 599 and below now represent 43 million…
Underbanked Distribution Channels
It amazes me how many business plans we get that basically ignore a distribution strategy. It’s probably more amazing what obvious omissions most business plans suffer in general, but in our space – underbanked financial services – distribution is quite common. It is not ok to merely make reference to…