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 under South Africa’s beds ($12B rand, or $1.6B, in a country with approximately 1/6th of the US population), is a powerful idea.  Imagine that all the underbanked people own significant assets, but just not in the form most banks and credit unions recognize: like cash, at home, under the mattress. Or gold. Or jewelry. Or equipment.

Bankers poo-poo pawnshops and gold dealers, but significant wealth is manifest in this form.  Other than the fact that many of these guys are off the grid, unregulated and/or charging very high fees, there is nothing unseemly about this form of wealth.  It is reality for tens of millions of people in the US.  It would not be very difficult to issue a gold-secured credit card, or a jewelry-backed responsible and profitable personal loan.

I think there is all kinds of opportunity for our industry to mainstream these kinds of services: fully regulated, technology enabled, asset backed, affordable and scalable.  We’d love to work with entrepreneurs thinking about this!