Well, here I am dithering on about my recent experiences with rewards checking accounts, and off goes USA Today to do a story on those folks who live bank-free lives, primarily due to necessity:
USA Today: Many Shun Bank Accounts, But Pay More…
Well, yes, those close to the poverty line have long been “left hanging” by standard Main Street banking institutions. Short of overdraft fees, where’s the profit in the bricks-and-mortar managing of checking accounts that’ll be lucky to see a $1k balance at any point during the month? (According to one 2004 study, 83 percent of “unbanked” families make less than $25k per year.)
And savings accounts for these folks? Fuhgettaboudit.
From the article:
Nearly 8% of U.S. households, or about 17 million people, don’t have bank accounts, according to a 2009 study by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. An additional 18% — 43 million people — are “underbanked,” which means they have bank accounts but occasionally use check-cashing companies, pawn shops, liquor stores or other alternatives to cash checks, pay bills and borrow money… .
In an effort to bring more consumers into the financial mainstream, the board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is scheduled to vote today on a program to encourage banks to offer no-frills, low-cost checking and savings accounts. The FDIC’s model checking account would allow customers to open an account for as little as $10. While banks may decide to charge a low monthly maintenance fee, the accounts won’t have the kind of surprise fees — such as overdraft protection fees — that have led consumers to abandon banks, says FDIC Chair Sheila Bair.
Hmmm. I really feel like this sort of banking program has been tried before, another pilot program of some kind, and with not-so-good results. Meaning that participation rates were low, and dropout rates high. But perhaps I’m imagining that.
“While the majority of banks have offered free and low-cost checking accounts for many years, all banks will need to reconsider the feasibility of continuing to offer free accounts, given current economic and regulatory pressures,” Carol Kaplan, a spokeswoman for the American Bankers Association, said in a statement.
A 2009 analysis by Novantas, a consulting firm, estimated that even in a “good” year, about half of checking accounts are unprofitable, and that regulatory and economic changes could raise that figure to 75%.
Gotta love the American Bankers Association. Setting the rest of us up already for new fees and/or fee increases!
We all have our little fears. One of mine, oddly enough, has to do with reaching the end of a discount superstore checkout line:
As much as I love ING Direct, where my household’s money is concerned, I’m going to veer away from the orange guys for a while.
Those account names are fine so far as they go. But one thing I’ve discovered over the years is that it’s also very helpful to put the last four digits of the account numbers at the end of your account names. Why? 
I simply cannot convey the level of contempt I hold for 99% of Overdraft Whiners. Seriously.