Greater quantity of choice financial services being offered in retail stores

A greater amount of choice financial services are offered by giant retail chains. The store chains Walmart, Best Buy, and Kmart are starting to offer more services for unbanked customers. Unbanked individuals are defined as people that do not have a bank account. The number of unbanked within the United States is pegged at just under 20 percent of the population. Source of article – Retail stores branching out into alternative financial services by MoneyBlogNewz.

Services for finances at retail stores

The Washington Post explains that financial services might be offered at large retails chains soon. That means customers without bank accounts have a place to go. Services such as cash orders and check cashing have been accessible in stores for years, though some retailers are expanding their offerings. Prepaid debit cards are currently sold in Walmart stores already along with check cashing. Nevertheless, a station called Walmart Money Center may also be added. The Money Centers, which are currently in more than 1,100 stores nationwide, offer check cashing, money orders and prepaid card services in a bank or credit union-like format. The company is preparing to expand the number of Walmart Money Center locations from Alabama to Arizona to Alaska, but Walmart does not appear to be preparing on offering cash advances yet.

Finding more financial services from Best Buy and Kmart

Consumers can get more done financially at Kmart and Best Buy now too. Pilot programs are being offered in Kmart stores for prepaid debit card services, money orders and check cashing. Since fewer people are using installment loans or charge cards to buy with the recession, the layaway program has been popular as well. Tio Networks run kiosks at Best Buy that allow customers to pay bills electronically. Instant money is fed into the machine, which uses an electronic payment network.

Who the unbanked consists of

The term unbanked refers to those who do not use a banking account and instead use alternative financial service providers. Because of bank fees or mistrust, several choose not to use banks as about 70 percent of unbanked make less than $30,000 a year anyway. A bank account is something one in five consumers doesn't have according to Walmart surveys.

Citations

Washington Post

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/31/AR2011013106177.html